Shinji Ikiryo
by Mike313
Summary: Shinji thought the guardian his father left him with, his uncle the self-proclaimed ghost hunter, was simply nuts. Yet one day, a mishap in his uncle's workshop shows Shinji there might be something to all that ghost stuff. An Eva/Danny Phantom fusion.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Life Before NERV, Part One of Three: Strange New Home**

Shinji couldn't believe what was happening.

"B-But, Daddy, w-what do you m-mean I'm not going with you?" the little boy sobbed.

"I mean I don't have the time for you any longer," Gendo replied firmly, his voice devoid of emotion. "Your uncle should be along shortly. He will take care of you from now on."

"B-But, I wanna stay with you!" Shinji exclaimed.

"That is not possible," Gendo replied. "Don't attempt to follow me."

With that, the man turned and walked away with long, quick strides that the young boy couldn't hope to duplicate. Shinji watched his father's back in disbelief. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't. He had to be dreaming.

The boy pinched himself on the arm, hard. "Ow!"

_I'm _not_ dreaming,_ he thought, devastated.

Still sobbing softly, Shinji walked over to a small bench that was present inside the train station. He watched the train his father had boarded, telling himself that his father would change his mind and come back. He had to.

But he didn't. Shinji watched as the train took off, moving slowly at first, then gaining speed. In minutes, it had gone far enough away that Shinji couldn't see it any longer.

He pinched himself on the arm again. It hurt this time, too; he hadn't dreamed the train's departure, either.

A few people walking about the train station cast pitying looks at the crying child who sat alone on the hard bench, but most of them thought better of interfering. One woman went up to Shinji and asked him if he was lost. When Shinji told her he was waiting for his uncle to pick him up, however, she departed.

Time passed. The station gradually grew less crowded, until Shinji was one of the very few people still in it. The hours felt endless to the young child, and only seemed to grow longer as his stomach started to rumble with hunger. Still, there was no sign of his uncle.

As the sky started to grow orange with an impending sunset, a truly terrible thought struck little Shinji. What if his father felt he was such an unworthy child that he hadn't truly bothered to see to his care, and there was no uncle coming to pick him up? What if his daddy had left him in this place with nothing but a lie?

He didn't remember either his mother or his father ever mentioning that he had an uncle before…

_No! Daddy wouldn't do that!_ Shinji thought.

Yet, that morning, he would have said with absolute certainty that his father would never leave him like this.

Just as the little boy was about to have the mother of all meltdowns, a booming voice from sounded across the train station.

"Shinji! Is that you, boy?"

Feeling relief sweep through him, Shinji turned to face this uncle person…and suddenly, it once again seemed very possible that he was dreaming up this whole crazy day.

His uncle was a giant of a man, easily over six feet in height, and to the little boy, he looked to be nearly as wide. Yet, a man of his size (and girth) was, while unusual, not exactly surreal. His clothing, however, was a different story. The man was wearing a one piece orange jump suit, along with black boots and black gloves. Around his large waist was what looked like some kind of utility belt.

"Y-You're my uncle?" Shinji stammered out.

"That's right!" the big man boomed. Shinji winced slightly, wondering if his uncle's voice had a lower setting. "I'm your Uncle Ichigo, and you're going to live with me from now on. By the way, sorry about being so late to pick you up. I was working in the lab, and, well, you know how it is." He added sheepishly.

Shinji didn't know what his uncle was talking about at all, but he just nodded.

"Great!" Ichigo exclaimed. "Well, come on, Shinji, let me show you your new home!"

"Um, Uncle, I was wondering if we could get something to eat," Shinji said hopefully.

"Good idea! I was just thinking that I could go for some fudge!" Ichigo exclaimed.

Shinji followed his uncle out of the station and into the parking lot outside. Ichigo led him to a large, white van with all manner of dishes and antennae sticking out of the roof. On the side were kanji that the young child couldn't read, all of which were surrounded by green flame designs.

The boy pinched himself again. It still hurt.

"What are you doing there, Shinji?" Ichigo asked.

"…nothing," Shinji lied as he climbed into the passenger seat of the van.

"Okay," Ichigo said, accepting this at once. "Say, Shinji, what do you think about ghosts?"

"Ghosts?"

* * *

Ichigo took Shinji to some greasy spoon restaurant, which he apparently frequented quite a bit, given that everyone who worked there knew him by name. They sat down to eat, and though the boy was famished from not having eaten since early that morning, Shinji nearly forgot about his appetite; he was so amazed at both the speed his uncle ate with and the amount he put away. It certainly wasn't difficult to figure out why Ichigo was as big as he was.

Upon leaving the restaurant, they climbed back into the bizarre van, and Ichigo drove into a small town. It was probably the most normal thing Shinji had seen all day.

Or at least, it was, until the van turned a corner and Ichigo's home came into view. The place had probably been an ordinary home at one time, but there was nothing normal about it now. The roof of the house was as crowded with dishes, antennae, and other hardware as the roof of the van, and there was a glowing green neon sign outside. These strange accessories seemed to be the only thing about the house that was in good repair. The once white paint had been turned a light gray by time and dirt, and it was peeling in places. The lawn had been taken over by weeds, and there were various pieces of equipment Shinji couldn't even try to identify strew across it. The windows were so dirty that they were barely transparent any longer.

It didn't look like any place where Shinji would want to live.

"Home sweet home!" Ichigo exclaimed, getting of the van.

Shinji also exited the vehicle and followed his uncle inside, carefully weaving about to avoid the rubbish in the yard. The door creaked as Ichigo opened it.

"Well, this is it," the big man said as he flicked on a light switch, causing a naked light bulb on the ceiling to illuminate the main room. "This is where you'll be staying from now on."

The inside of the place was as shabby as the outside. Dust covered everything except the endless gizmos in various stages of assembly which Ichigo had indiscriminately strew everywhere. The puke green carpet looked like it had never seen the business end of a vacuum cleaner. The walls were nearly covered with posters that showed badly drawn ghosts, most of which had bull's-eyes painted over them, but even they couldn't conceal all the holes that someone or something had punched into the drywall.

The place seemed more than bizarre to the little boy; it felt downright alien. He looked up at his uncle, an expression of disbelief on his young face.

"Great, isn't it?" Ichigo said, cheerfully oblivious to his new ward's distress. "Come on, let me show you your room!"

The big man headed for a nearby staircase, with the little boy following behind reluctantly. "I cleaned out one of my storage rooms for you to live in," Ichigo said proudly.

They reached the top of the stairs, and Ichigo opened the door to the room that was to be Shinji's. The boy walked inside and looked about, something that took nearly no time at all, given how little there was to see. The room consisted of four walls, which were dirty but mercifully without any holes, and a window. A small futon had been placed in the middle of the floor. Other than that, the place was empty.

"Well…this is it," Ichigo said, sounding just a tad awkward for the first time since Shinji had met him. "Any questions?"

A thousand thousand replies sprang immediately to Shinji's mind. Indeed, it felt as though he had nothing _but_ questions. He wanted to know why his father didn't want him anymore. He wanted to know if he'd _really_ have to live in this strange, awful place from now on. He wanted to know why his mother had died inside of some big mecha. He wanted to know why the world had decided to stop playing by the rules since that terrible day.

"Are you my father's brother or my mother's brother?" he blurted out instead.

It wasn't exactly the most important question he had, but it was something that had been bugging him since he'd met this man. Neither of his parents had ever mentioned him before, and this uncle person didn't look much like either one of them.

Ichigo threw his head back and laughed. Shinji winced slightly as the loud noise hurt his ears.

"I'm your mother's older brother," Ichigo said.

"You don't seem very sad, then," Shinji said. "It hasn't been a long time since she…" he trailed off, not wanting to say it.

Ichigo sobered. "Listen, Shinji, Yui and me, we never had a whole to do with each other once we were both adults. Your mother felt that I was a quack scientist and kept her distance from me. She didn't want to be associated with what I do."

"What do you do?" Shinji asked.

"Hunt ghosts!" Ichigo exclaimed, all enthusiasm and energy once more. "I build equipment to detect, combat, and trap ectoplasm-based entities!"

"My mother said ghosts aren't real," Shinji said.

"She would," Ichigo grumbled, shaking a beefy fist at no one in particular before turning back to the little boy. "Listen, Shinji, ghosts _are_ real, and someday, I'm going to prove it to the entire world! Then they'll take me seriously!"

Shinji swallowed. He'd been just fine with believing that ghosts were only pretend.

"So, anything else you wanted to ask me?" Ichigo said.

"Um, if you and Mother didn't get along, why are you taking me in now?" Shinji asked.

Ichigo shrugged. "There was no one else," he answered, it never even occurring to him that he should perhaps lie a little.

"Oh…" said Shinji, his thin shoulders slumping.

"Well, I'm sure you're tired," Ichigo said. "So I'll let you get some shuteye."

With that, the big man switched off the lights in the room and then quickly exiting, shutting the door behind him as he left.

Shinji felt his way around the room until he located his new futon, then got down on it and wrapped the blanket around himself. The four-year-old didn't know what scared him more: his new home and his new life, or the new knowledge that ghosts really did exist.

* * *

_Six Years Later…_

"Uncle!" Shinji called as he descended the stairs that led to the house's basement laboratory. "Uncle, are you down here?"

Shinji was answered by the sound of a small explosion. In just about any other house, this would have been ample reason to panic. The ten-year-old just sighed and continued walking down the stairs.

"Problems with the prototype again, Uncle?" Shinji asked.

Ichigo Ikari was laying on his back on the hard basement floor, a thin coating of dark soot on his face and the front of his ever-present orange jumpsuit. Near him was the apparent source of the explosion, a large, octagonal device.

"Shinji?" Ichigo asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I still live here, Uncle," Shinji deadpanned.

Most people would have thought that Ichigo was merely disoriented by the small blast he'd just subjected himself to, but Shinji knew better. Barely a week passed that his uncle didn't express surprise at least once upon finding that his nephew lived at him.

"Oh," Ichigo said. "Well, anyway, I was just about to get the Ghost Portal working, all right, but the ecto-filter must still need work."

"Uh-huh," Shinji replied, his tone dripping skepticism that Ichigo completely failed to pick up on. "Anyway, Uncle, I'm going to buy groceries, but I need some money."

"Hmm? Oh, sure," Ichigo replied, patting down his jumpsuit's pockets until he found the one that held his wallet. "Don't forget to buy ham," he told Shinji as he handed the boy some money.

Shinji resisted the urge to sigh in a long-suffering sort of way. His uncle _always_ told him not to forget to buy ham, even though he never did.

"I won't, Uncle," Shinji said, accepting the bills Ichigo held out.

Once he had the money in his hot little hand, Shinji quickly turned and rushed back up the stairs before his uncle could start rambling to him about his so-called Ghost Portal.

Once out of the basement, Shinji passed through the first floor, which was still as much of a dirty wreck as it had been the day he'd moved in. Shinji had attempted to clean the place in the past, but trying to keep Ichigo Ikari's home clean was like building a sandcastle in the face of the approaching tide. The man was just such a force for messiness that Shinji had long ago learned to content himself with keeping his own small room tidy.

Reaching the front door, Shinji slipped out of the house and quickly picked his way across the cluttered lawn before making it to the sidewalk and leaving Wonderland.

Not that the place Shinji thought of as "the real world" was so great, but at least the rest of Shinjuku-2 was normal, sane even.

As he traversed the few blocks to the store, the boy silently thought about the odd form his life had taken since he'd been sent to live with his uncle. The man's obsession with ghosts had never wavered in the slightest in all the time Shinji had known his Uncle Ichigo, much to Shinji's displeasure.

He had also learned a few things in the time since he'd first arrived, such as the fact that there was more to the schism that had existed between his uncle and his mother than Ichigo had first told him. As it had turned out, Yui and Ichigo's father had been a wealthy man. When he'd passed on, both his children had discovered that his will left his entire estate to the eldest, and only, son. His mother had requested that Ichigo split the inherence with her anyway, since her relationship with their father had been quite good, and she couldn't believe that he'd truly wished to have Ichigo be the sole heir. In all likelihood, the man had just never gotten around to updating his will after Yui's birth. However, Ichigo had refused, saying he needed all the money for his research into the paranormal.

Shinji arrived at the grocery store at this point, and he put his less than pleasant musing about his uncle from his mind. He quickly navigated the aisles, picking up the items he wanted, as well as Uncle Ichigo's precious ham. Shinji had started doing the grocery shopping and most of the cooking years ago, as Ichigo rarely purchased anything besides pork products, chocolate, and ice cream. The man also couldn't cook much of anything besides bacon.

_I shouldn't be thinking ill of Uncle like this,_ Shinji chided himself. _He took me in when no one else would._

Shaking his head to clear all these thoughts, Shinji proceeded with his shopping trip, and was soon leaving the store with a bag of groceries. He'd gotten everything he wanted, and was actually in a rather cheerful mood as he left the store. There was even a little bounce in his step.

"Hey, Ikari!"

Shinji grimaced as he came to a stop and turned, seeing another boy that was significantly larger than him approaching.

"Hello, Yuuto," Shinji replied, trying to keep his voice as level and polite as possible.

"Whatcha got there, Ikari?" Yuuto asked.

"J-Just groceries," Shinji said, hating himself for the tremble that got into his voice.

"Really? You're sure it's not something for one of your freak uncle's crazy gadgets?" Yuuto demanded.

"No! It's just food," Shinji said.

A malicious gleam appeared in Yuuto's eyes. "I think I better check."

Quicker than Shinji could react, Yuuto snatched the bag out of the smaller boy's hands and began to riffle through it. He removed a carton of eggs and pretended to inspect it closely. "Hmm, these look okay," he decided.

Then Yuuto carelessly tossed the carton over his shoulder. It flew open as it fell to the ground, and all twelve eggs shattered as they hit the pavement.

"Hey!" Shinji shouted. "Stop that!"

He tried to snatch the bag of groceries back, but Yuuto easily reached out and shoved him hard before Shinji could touch it. The smaller boy was knocked to the ground, landing painfully on his rear.

"Hmm, this looks safe, too," Yuuto said, tossing a container of miso to the ground. It broke open, spilling the brown paste on the ground.

"Stop!" Shinji yelled and made another attempt to save his food, but Yuuto was easily able to fend him off again.

In minutes, the bully had "inspected" and then spilled the contents of a container of tofu, several packages of strawberry pocky (Shinji's favorite snack), a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and several packets of spices all over the sidewalk. Only Uncle Ichigo's stupid ham survived the abuse.

"Well, congratulations, Ikari," Yuuto said once he was done, handing the now empty bag back to Shinji. "No weird ghost gizmos in there! Not that it would make a difference, anyway. Your Uncle's just an old kook."

"Thank you for checking," Shinji replied through gritted teeth, "thank you so much."

"You're welcome, Ikari!" Yuuto replied cheerfully, then hopped on a bike Shinji hadn't noticed until now and sped off.

Shinji just stood there and watched him ride away. He was sorely tempted to pursue the jerk, maybe even try and poke a stick between the spokes of his bike's tires, but experience had taught him that retaliating was not a good idea. One of his teachers at school had once told him that bullies were actually very afraid of their victims fighting back. Shinji had tested that theory with Yuuto once when the bully had been especially insufferable, actually punching him while in the grip of pure rage. He vividly remembered how Yuuto's eyes had lit up like a neon sign, which had made Shinji realize that he'd just made a very big mistake. He had received two black eyes, a busted lip, and a score of bruises for that, and because there had been witnesses willing to say that Shinji had been the first to take a swing, he had been the only one punished.

Sighing, Shinji picked up the ham and tried to walk off, but he was quickly stopped.

"You there, boy!"

Shinji turned to see a policeman approaching. He, like most authority figures Shinji was familiar with, had the worst timing humanly possible.

"Yes, sir?" Shinji asked.

"Did that mess come from your bag?" the cop asked, gesturing toward all the spilled food.

"Yes, sir."

"And you weren't just going to leave it there, were you?" the cop asked.

Shinji didn't even try to protest this injustice. He just sighed, kneeled down, and began to clean up the ruined food.

* * *

By the time Shinji returned home, he was in an understandably terrible mood.

_How does Yuuto _always _just manage to avoid getting into trouble?_ He wondered as he trudged inside.

The only silver lining that Shinji could detect was that his uncle probably wouldn't remember he'd already given his nephew grocery money that day, so getting enough cash to replace the lost food shouldn't pose much of a problem.

"Uncle!" Shinji called as he stepped inside. "Uncle!"

There was no answer. Frowning, Shinji made his way into the kitchen, and found a note attached to the refrigerator with a magnet. Ichigo had left it right at the top of fridge's door, as he always did on the few occasions when he left a note for his nephew, so Shinji had to stand on a chair to get at the piece of paper. Once he had it in hand, he quickly read it.

_Shinji, went to the next town to pick up supplies for my inventions. Be back soon. P.S. Could you tighten up the loose screws on the inside of the Ghost Portal for me? Thanks._

"Wonderful," Shinji grumbled, crumpling the note up and throwing it away.

One of the few things Ichigo was very good at was keeping his money well concealed. Even after having lived with him for so long, Shinji had no idea where his uncle kept any, aside from the bank and his wallet. And since "back soon" meant "maybe I'll be home by the time you go to bed" in Ichigo-speak, Shinji knew he had a choice of ham or cold cereal for dinner.

Shinji had grown powerfully sick of ham, and pork in general, a long time ago.

"What _else_ can go wrong today?" he wondered aloud.

Then, realizing what he'd just done, he looked about warily. He breathed a sigh of relief when a bolt of lightning _didn't_ tear through the wall and strike him.

"Guess I'd better head downstairs and get to work on Uncle's stupid Ghost Portal," Shinji said, taking a considerable amount of vindictive pleasure from calling the thing stupid in his uncle's home.

Then he again looked about, half expecting the man to be standing right behind him. He wasn't, but Shinji closed his mouth and scurried down into the basement anyway.

Once there, he was able to quickly locate a screwdriver, since the basement workshop was the only place in the house that Ichigo bothered to keep even remotely neat and orderly. Then he quickly donned a small white and black jumpsuit; Uncle Ichigo was adamant that such attire be worn whenever working with his ghost-related instruments. Shinji had no idea why this was, but he'd learned it was easier to simply not question that sort of thing.

Properly garbed and with tool in hand, Shinji stepped inside the "Ghost Portal" and soon located a number of screws that had been inserted into the holes they were meant for but had not been tightened at all. Apparently, his uncle had had some flash of inspiration before he'd done the job and had rushed out.

_Whatever,_ Shinji thought, and began the chore.

It wasn't exactly a difficult task, but there were a lot of screws there. Also, as the portal was effectively a big, metal box that was missing one wall, it quickly grew hot and stuffy inside the thing. Shinji could soon feel sweat running down his skinny frame beneath his clothes.

His ire began to rise along with the temperature in the large device. The whole giant gizmo was ridiculous, anyway. A portal to the world of ghosts? It was like something out a cartoon, he thought, and a silly cartoon at that. His uncle's whole obsession with ghosts was just plain silly, but its consequences for Shinji weren't at all funny.

That silly obsession was the reason his guardian could never spare more than a moment's worth of time and attention for him.

That silly obsession was the reason he was picked on so much at school. Even the teachers made fun of him and his uncle when they thought he wasn't listening.

And who knew what might have been different if Ichigo hadn't taken all of the inheritance to fund his silly obsession, rather than sharing it with his sister? It could have changed the whole life of Shinji's mother, including the incident that killed her.

Shinji might still be happy if it wasn't for Ichigo's obsession. He might still have a family that was whole.

Suddenly bursting with anger, the boy took out his frustrations upon the very thing that currently embodied his uncle's obsession: the portal.

He kicked the inside of it with all his might, not caring in the least about the pain that shot up his leg as a result, the small act of rebellion feeling more satisfying than anything Shinji had ever done before.

He was actually thinking about doing it again when the machinery inside the device began to hum.

_Uh-oh, _was all Shinji had time to think before _it_ happened.

White light exploded from the back of the portal, washing over Shinji's small form. The boy threw back his head and screamed, feeling needles of pain stabbing him all throughout his body, both on the outside and the inside.

And though he couldn't see it, Shinji was changed. Changed at a very basic level—the molecular level to be precise—as ectoplasm bonded itself to his DNA, the very thing that made him what he was.

Then the flare of light and energy ended, leaving Shinji laying on the floor inside the portal, a thin trail of pale smoke rising from his form.

For several moments, Shinji just lay there, not quite daring to get up. He felt fairly certain that something was wrong with him, and he was in no hurry to figure out what. His whole body was tingling, and he felt weird in a way he couldn't put into words.

Eventually finding the will to get up and confront whatever had just happened, Shinji shakily rose to his feet. As he did so, he noticed the strangest thing: the colors of his jumpsuit had been inverted; the formerly black gloves, boots, collar, and belt had turned white, while the rest of the material, which had once been white, was now black.

"_Weird,_" he said.

Since there was no mirror in the basement workshop, Shinji went staggering up the stairs and then toward the bathroom, feeling a bit dizzy and a little sick. He hesitated outside the bathroom door for a minute, feeling very reluctant to see what the odd occurrence had done to him, especially after seeing what it had done to his clothing.

However, there was no way around it; Shinji pushed the door open, strode inside, looked at his reflection…and gasped at what he saw. His normally dark hair had become snow white, and his skin was also paler than it should be. His eyes were the most disturbing of all; normally blue, they had changed to an electric green and glowed with an eerie light.

"What's happened to me?" he asked his reflection.

His reflection answered by abruptly vanishing. Shinji let out a yelp of fright, then released another as he looked down at himself and saw nothing. Before he could even attempt to compose himself, he suddenly felt the terrifying sensation of falling, even though he was standing upon a piece of floor that was supposed to be entirely solid. He screamed as he went downwards, his invisible form falling straight _through_ the floor.

"Ooph!" the air rushed out of Shinji's lungs as he crashed down onto the floor of the basement, mercifully not going any further down.

Then his body became visible again. Before Shinji could react to this, two rings of white suddenly came into being around his waist. One went up his form and the other down, and where they passed, he changed back to normal. The jumpsuit just plain disappeared, leaving him in his regular clothes.

He held his hands up before his face, examining them closely. The skin that covered them was the right shade, not pale like his face had been mere minutes ago.

On some level, Shinji knew he should have been freaking out, but he felt strangely calm. Maybe it was just because his brain was overloaded, or perhaps part of him just saw whatever was happening as simply being the culimination of all the weirdness he'd seen and experienced since moving into Uncle Ichigo's home. Whatever the reason, he wasn't currently feeling more than a moderate sense of annoyance at what had just happened.

"Well," he said, looking at his once again normal features, "I guess this is an improvement. Maybe if I'm lucky, it's over..."

* * *

It soon became clear that whatever had happened to Shinji hadn't ended. As the day went on and he went about his business, parts of him kept randomly becoming invisible, intangible, or both. Whenever this happened, he would frantically will the wayward piece of him to go back to normal, and it would do so, but that seemed to be the limit of his control.

After the third time this happened, Shinji's bizarre sense of calm shattered, and he decided he wanted Uncle Ichigo to return so he could tell him what had happened and hopefully be restored to normal _right now._

Shinji even tried calling Uncle Ichigo on his cell phone, only to discover that the man had left the thing on the kitchen counter, as usual. There was nothing for him to do except wait until Uncle Ichigo returned home, regardless of how anxious he was.

Whenever his uncle left the town in search of supplies, Shinji usually didn't bother waiting up for the man to return. This time he tried it, but being a ten-year-old boy, he fell asleep some time around midnight.

When morning came the next day, Shinji bound downstairs to find Ichigo frying bacon in an iron skillet.

"Hey, there, Shinji!" Ichigo greeted him cheerfully. "How are ya this morning?"

"Um, well, Uncle Ichigo, there's something I need to talk to you about," Shinji began nervously.

"Really? What?"

"The Ghost Portal—" Shinji began.

"Ah, yes, the portal," Ichigo interrupted. "You did a fine job on it last night, my boy. And with the parts I picked up from Osaka-3 yesterday, I'm sure I'll have it operational soon!"

"That's very nice, Uncle, but—"

"And do you know what I'm going to do once I get it working?" Ichigo asked.

"Uncle, please, just listen to—"

"I'm going to catch me a ghost! _That's_ what I'm going to do!" Ichigo proclaimed. "Then, I'll rip it open to see what makes it tick! And armed with that knowledge, I'll be able to come up with endless methods of destroying ghosts, but not before making the evil things suffer _excruciating_ pain first!"

Shinji went pale.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Shinji?" Ichigo asked.

Shinji swallowed. "Uh, I just wanted to say that the Ghost Portal is…really cool, Uncle."

"I know!" Ichigo exclaimed.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Well, I'm finally taking stab at the type of Eva fanfic where Shinji is raised by someone else (sort of), in this case, a Japanese Jack Fenton, who, unlike the actual Jack, doesn't care about his family much. Now I just need to write a Peggy-Sue fic and a post-Third Impact fic and I'll have all the popular Eva fic ideas covered!

Seriously, though, I found the idea for this on one my infrequent trips through the forums, and it just got into my head and wouldn't go away. As I was having a little bit of writer's block with the SOE2 series, I figured I'd write this. Speaking of the SOE2 series, don't expect anything like regular updates on this until that's at least mostly finished. All three parts of the extended prologue are already written, and I'll edit them and put them up soon, but after that it'll probably be a while until more chapters come.

As always, thanks to all my readers and reviewers.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Life Before NERV, Part Two of Three: An Unusual Birthday**

Almost exactly half a year after his fateful encounter with the ghost portal, Shinji awoke one morning with a yawn and a stretch. This itself wasn't unusual at all, but the mood he was in that sunny morning certainly was.

Shinji Ikari was excited, and why shouldn't he be? After all, it wasn't every day that you turned eleven.

Smiling, he jumped out of bed and went to the task of getting himself ready to face the day. Once he had showered and dressed, he went downstairs, only to discover that the was kitchen empty. With a sigh, he ventured down the basement, where he found his uncle.

The workshop down there looked largely the same as it had six months ago, with one significant difference. The Ghost Portal device, which had been just an oddly shaped lump of metal and circuitry back then, now had a swirling mass of green energy inside it.

Uncle Ichigo had managed to get the portal working only days after Shinji had been zapped by the thing, and the boy was fairly certain that his act of "percussive maintenance" was what had finally allowed the device to function the way it was supposed to, though Uncle Ichigo naturally credited it all to his own brilliance. Whatever the reason, Shinji had liked the portal more when it had just been a very large piece of junk.

"Ohayo, Uncle," Shinji greeted.

"Not now, Shinji," Uncle Ichigo replied. The big man was bent over a worktable and was manipulating some hi-tech looking device. "I'm almost finished with this…there! The specter detector is done!"

Uncle Ichigo held up the device triumphantly, and it almost immediately began to beep wildly.

"Ghost detected! Ghost detected!" it proclaimed.

"Where?!" Uncle Ichigo demanded as he began to push buttons on the thing.

"One and a half meters directly in front of you," the machine answered.

Uncle Ichigo looked up eagerly, but his face fell as he saw that only Shinji stood before him. "Must not have worked all the bugs out of this thing," he said, looking down dejectedly at his newest creation.

"Heh, yeah," Shinji chuckled nervously. "Anyway, Uncle, I was wondering if you knew what day it is?"

"It's Tuesday, isn't it?" Uncle Ichigo asked absently.

"Um, actually, it's Wednesday, and that's not what I meant," Shinji said.

Uncle Ichigo snapped his fingers. "That's right! How could I ever forget!" he exclaimed, causing his nephew to smile hopefully. "The ghost convention in Kyoto-2 starts today!"

Shinji's shoulders slumped. He'd forgotten all about the "ghost convention", which was really just an annual gathering of J-horror fans and movie monster cosplayers. Ichigo liked to pretend that the whole event was more serious than it was and had never failed to attend. There was no way his uncle would ever remember about his birthday in the face of that.

_Not that he remembered on any of the years when the two didn't overlap,_ Shinji thought sourly.

"I'd better get moving if I don't want to miss the opening ceremonies!" Ichigo exclaimed. "I should be back in a few days, Shinji. Until then, enjoy having the house to yourself."

With that, the self-proclaimed ghost hunter went bounding up the stairs with surprising speed for a man his size, leaving Shinji alone in the basement.

The now eleven-year-old boy sighed. He supposed it was for the best that his uncle never paid him much attention. If he'd ever done otherwise, Uncle Ichigo surely would have noticed that something had happened to his nephew after the incident with the Ghost Portal. Shinji had gained a degree of control over his strange powers since then, but for roughly two months after he'd gained them, parts of him had almost constantly been phasing in and out.

Even with Uncle Ichigo's usual level of obliviousness, there had been a few close calls. The biggest one had happened when Shinji had been experimenting and had discovered that he could change back into the "ghostly" form he'd first taken on right after the incident. This had set off every ghost alarm in the house and brought Uncle Ichigo running. If Shinji hadn't figured out how to change back into his human form, he would have been in serious trouble.

Pulling himself from his thoughts, Shinji checked his watch, discovering that he should have just enough time for breakfast before he had to head out.

* * *

His day didn't improve when he got to school. The first person he ran into in the schoolyard was Yuuto, which was never a good thing.

"Yo, Ikari!" the bigger boy called as he approached his latest victim.

"Ohayo, Yuuto," Shinji greeted nervously.

"Guess what I heard this morning," Yuuto commanded.

"What?" Shinji asked obediently.

"I heard that the walls in the school office were bleeding last night," Yuuto said.

Shinji winced. Ever since his uncle had gotten the Ghost Portal to actually work, strange things had been happening in Shinjuku-2. People were reporting sightings of strange, spectral forms. Animals behaved oddly. Things went missing or were broken with no explanation. And now, apparently walls actually bled. It was like the whole town was haunted.

Uncle Ichigo loved it. Everyone else, not so much.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that," Shinji said.

"Don't play innocent with me, Ikari," Yuuto snapped. "I know you and your crazy uncle are to blame for all this!"

"I don't have anything to do with my uncle's…activities," Shinji said. "Besides, not too long ago, you thought my uncle was just a random kook and that there was nothing to his 'science.' Now you think he actually did something? You really shouldn't be able to have it both ways."

It was a pretty good argument, if Shinji said so himself, but he'd learned long ago that bullies really couldn't care less about things like logic and reason.

"Look, Ikari, all I know is that the principal is _convinced_ that it's just vandals doing it," Yuuto said. "He's in one hell of a bad mood, and if I end up on the receiving end of it, you're going to be on the receiving end of _my_ bad mood. Got it?"

Shinji nodded. "Got it."

With that, Yuuto walked off, and Shinji breathed a small sigh of relief. He wasn't worried about Yuuto getting in trouble; Shinji knew only too well how the other boy had an uncanny ability to avoid ever getting punished for anything.

_Heck, I'm probably more likely to be the principal's target than he is,_ Shinji thought.

The first bell rang then, and Shinji headed to class.

* * *

The rest of the school day proceeded normally, which was to say miserably, for Shinji. No one seemed to know, or care, that it was his birthday, and by the time school let out, he was wondering why he'd ever expected otherwise. He always got his hopes up on his birthday, only to have them crushed.

_Guess I'm just a sucker for punishment,_ he thought as he left the school.

He took a side exit rather than use the main entrance. Yuuto had not, to the best of Shinji's knowledge, gotten into any trouble that day, but that didn't mean the bigger boy wouldn't be looking to abuse Shinji anyway.

Successfully avoiding any unpleasant encounters, Shinji decided _not_ to head straight home. Instead, he took a detour into the town's small commercial area; if no one else was going to acknowledge his birthday, he figured he might as well treat himself to an ice cream sundae or something. The thought cheered him up a bit.

However, as it turned out, he was not to indulge in any frozen treats that day. Just as the ice cream parlor came within his sight, Shinji suddenly felt a cold chill sweep over him. He shivered, then, acting on a sudden impulse, exhaled through his mouth. He could see his breath, which, considering that it was over eighty-five degrees outside, was definitely not normal.

_Oh no,_ he thought.

This wasn't the first time he'd experienced this; it had happened twice before, once right before the school's trophy case had been mysteriously shattered, and once prior to a girl claiming she'd seen a ghostly form in the school's bathroom. After the second occurrence, Shinji had accepted that the incident with the portal had given him some kind of sixth sense that alerted him when a ghost was nearby.

The last two times his "ghost sense" had gone off, he'd been in class, and couldn't have done anything even if he'd known what it meant. Now, though, he was on his own and could react as he pleased.

His first instinct was to just vacate the area, fast. If something bad was going to happen, he didn't want to be around for it. Besides, enough people thought the Ikari's were responsible for Shinjuku-2's recent woes already; Shinji didn't need to be around during a paranormal incident and reinforce everyone's suspicions.

Still, he had to admit that he was curious about the strange things that had been happening. And what if he had a chance to make it all stop? He couldn't pass that up; _everybody _seemed to dislike him now because of what was going on, and he'd like nothing more than to return things to the much more tolerable status quo of the past.

Reluctantly, he began to search for whatever had triggered his weird sixth sense, telling himself that he'd flee at the first sign of trouble. He walked in slowly expanding circles, or at least, the closest thing to them that the layout of the town would allow him.

_This is stupid,_ he decided after a few minutes of exploring, coming to a stop in front of an abandoned warehouse. _Whatever happened, I must have missed it. I should probably just—_

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream from inside the warehouse.

Heart suddenly pounding, Shinji's first impulse was to duck away from the windows. This was utterly pointless, since said windows were so covered in dirt and grime that it was impossible to see anything through them. However, it took Shinji a good half a minute to realize as much through his fear and the rush of adrenaline.

When his brain finally made the correct connections, he sheepishly stood up straight again and carefully used his hands to wipe a small section of one of the windows clean. He peered into the warehouse, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

Inside the abandoned building was a ghost, a real ghost. The ghost was female and hovered a few feet off the ground, her hands and feet hanging limply from her arms and legs. Her dark hair was long, unkempt, and in stark contrast to her extremely sallow complexion. She was clad in a simple white shift, and two small spheres of blue fire hovered by her head.

However, unless Shinji missed his guess, she was not the one who had screamed a moment ago. Two children, a boy and a girl who were roughly his age, were trapped between the ghost and some old machine. They were clutching onto each other and cowering in obvious terror.

_What do I do? What do I do?_ Shinji thought frantically.

The first idea that popped into his head was calling the police, but he rejected this notion almost immediately. Even if he was somehow able to get the police to come, he doubted they'd actually be able to _do_ much of anything against this otherworldly threat.

Calling Uncle Ichigo was his next idea, and this seemed wiser. If anybody had equipment that would be effective against ghosts, it would be him. Then Shinji remembered that his uncle was out of town, and the people in the warehouse needed help _now._

That left only one option.

_I'm going to regret this so much,_ he thought.

After a quick look around to confirm that no one was watching him, Shinji consciously commanded himself to transform for only the second time in his life. Two rings of white light formed around his waist and swept over his form, altering his clothes into the black and white jumpsuit, making his skin paler, his eyes green, and his hair white.

Once in his ghostly form, Shinji quickly willed himself to become intangible and walked through the wall before him and into the warehouse, deliberately giving himself no time to have second thoughts about what he was doing.

"Hey!" he called to the ghost as he allowed himself to solidify again. "L-Leave them alone!"

_Oh, wonderful. That wouldn't scare a kitten,_ he thought, groaning inwardly.

The ghost seemed to agree with him, because she failed to flee in terror as he'd hoped she would. Instead, she simply turned and regarded him with eyes as black as midnight.

What followed was a moment of dead silence, and though the ghost wasn't smiling at all, Shinji was forcibly reminded of the time he had so foolishly taken a swing at Yuuto.

Then the ghost let out an earsplitting howl of fury, and the strange, floating flames that hovered at either side of her head abruptly doubled in size. Shinji's eyes widened as jets of fire shot out of both of them and went soaring right for him.

Had it been up to his conscious mind, Shinji would have simply stood there until he was incinerated. However, some deep down part of him that was too primitive to be stunned by the otherworldly battle and was concerned with only survival took the reins at the last moment, and Shinji leaped to his right, rolling as his body hit the hard concrete floor.

For a brief, bizarre moment, the only thing he could think about was how dirty he was probably making himself.

Then his brain _finally_ managed to catch up to what was happening, and he sprang back to his feet. The ghost was glaring hatefully at him, and he knew he had seconds at most before she unleashed another blast of blue fire at him.

_I really should have made some kind of plan _before_ I charged in here,_ Shinji thought with a grimace, his mind racing as he tried to come up with some kind of strategy. However, it was a difficult task considering how little he actually knew about his ghost powers. In fact, besides transforming, the only thing he knew he could do for sure was—

The ghost fired another blast at him, and Shinji jumped to avoid it again. This time, however, instead of trying to land in the least painful way possible, he willed himself to go intangible and dove straight _into_ the floor. The concrete that surrounded him became transparent to his eyes, like gray-tinted glass, and Shinji simply looked up at the ghost and waited, trying not to think about what would happen if he became solid again right then.

The ghost began to look about the warehouse in obvious confusion, and Shinji knew that she didn't realize where he'd gone. Feeling emboldened, he moved himself until he was right behind and below her.

_Here goes…everything,_ he thought.

"_Hiya_!" Shinji screamed as he leap upwards and out of the floor, becoming solid again and hurling himself at the ghost's back.

His intent had been to knock her to the floor, but the scrawny eleven-year-old boy simply didn't have the weight to accomplish his aim. The ghost staggered forward, which was rather strange, considering that she was hovering above the ground, but she did not fall. Realizing that she wasn't going down, Shinji wrapped his arms around her neck and hung on for dear life.

The ghost let out an enraged scream and began attempting to pry his fingers loose while she moved about wildly. Shinji held fast, however, just knowing that it would be the end for him if the ghost managed to dislodge him from his place on her back. He didn't know of any way that this situation could turn out well for him, but he was too afraid to be thinking that far ahead; all that mattered to him was holding on.

For several long seconds—or perhaps it was minutes; he really couldn't tell—Shinji clung onto the ghost, refusing to let go, refusing to even entertain the idea of letting go, despite how his hands soon started to ache. Then he saw a flash of blue, and he gasped in horror, knowing what was about to happen but having absolutely no way of stopping it.

One of the balls of fire unleashed another jet of flame, and it struck him right in the side. The pain was _incredible_, easily more intense than anything Shinji had ever felt before in his life; it was as if someone had stabbed him with a blade made from a combination of white hot metal and pure malice.

He was vaguely aware of someone's scream of agony echoing through the large, most empty building. Eventually he realized that it was his own scream he was hearing.

He also realized that he was laying on the floor, and the ghost was looking down at him and hissing. The flames that were floating by her head looked ready to incinerate him any second now.

"No!" Shinji screamed, raising his arms in a feeble defensive gesture just as fire shot out at him.

Time seemed to slow down then, or perhaps Shinji's brain just went into a weird sort of overdrive. He could see every little aspect of the fire that was about to turn him to ash, could examine every little tongue of flame that arced off the main shaft of fiery death, but yet he couldn't seem to move. He realized that he should have gone intangible again and sunk back into the floor, but he knew it was too late for that. Reflexively holding his hands up instead had just been foolish, even if they were glowing green.

…wait, _what?_

He didn't have any more time to wonder at what was happening, because the ghost's attack struck him then, hitting him right on his outstretched hands. The force of the blast sent him sliding across the floor at high speed, and he barely came to a stop before he hit one of the walls. However, the surge of flame hadn't actually hurt him at all this time.

_Well, this is new,_ he thought as he looked up at his hands, which were still surrounded by an eerie green light, not unlike the kind that shined from his eyes when he was in his ghostly form.

He looked up as he heard a low hiss and saw the ghost scowling murderously at him. Shinji swallowed, but he got to his feet and raised his suddenly luminous hands.

Tongues of blue fire lashed out at him once more, and Shinji held up his hands to block the attack. He gritted his teeth as sapphire flames met emerald light, not feeling any pain but being pushed backwards. He tried to brace his legs against the force of the attack, but that only slowed his backwards movement.

He was definitely losing.

"No," he ground out, pushing back with everything he had. "No…"

Suddenly, the light surrounding his hands shot forward, pressing the blue flames back. Shinji was so shocked by this that he accidentally caused the green light to wink out, and then had to leap to the side to avoid being roasted to a crisp.

_Well, what do you know, an actual offensive power,_ he thought, looking at his hand and managing to bring back the green glow with some mental effort.

"Hey…ghost! Take this!" Shinji yelled and fired a blast of the green energy, even as he cringed at how stupid he'd just sounded.

The ghost apparently wasn't expecting such an attack, because she wasn't _quite_ able to dodge the attack in time. The blast hit her and she howled in pain, then went flying upwards toward the roof of the building. She began to fade from view as she went, and she disappeared entirely before she hit the ceiling.

"Well," Shinji said, "what do you know? I won."

The very moment after he'd made this proclamation, he realized that he felt dizzy. He was dimly aware of a flare of white light, namely the light that heralded his transformation, but he couldn't seem to find the energy to care that he was apparently changing back. He noticed that the ground seemed to be rushing toward him in the strangest way, and then he knew no more.

* * *

Some indeterminate amount of time later, Shinji's eyes slowly fluttered open. He was laying on something soft, and after a second or two he realized that it was a bed. This caused him to believe that he might have just dreamed up the whole encounter in the warehouse, and he did not find this idea unpleasant.

However, something seemed off about his surroundings, despite the fact that he hadn't bothered looking to the right or left yet. He abruptly realized that this wasn't so when he spotted a ceiling fan above him; there was no such thing in his room.

_The ceiling's wrong…unfamiliar,_ he thought. _Means I'm not in my room._

He sat up slowly, finding that he felt stiff and rather achy but overall not terrible. Looking about, Shinji found that he was in a room he'd never seen before. It was fairly spacious by Japanese standards, as well as a tad on the messy side. A twin sized bed identical to the one he was on sat a few feet away from his. On one side of the room was a moderately sized bookshelf that was crammed full of both actual books and comics, while on the other was a small desk with an old PC on it. A few posters hung on the walls, some of them for horror movies and others with images of J-pop bands.

_Where the heck am I?_ Shinji wondered.

As if on cue, the door opened, and the boy that the ghost had been terrorizing in the warehouse entered. "Hey, you're awake!" he exclaimed.

Blinking in surprise, Shinji just stared at the other boy for a moment. He was a normal enough Japanese kid, with a skinny frame, short dark hair, and glasses.

"I know you!" Shinji blurted out. "You go to the same school as me."

"That's right," the other boy replied. "I don't think we've ever spoken before, though. I'm Fumio Kasuga. You're Ikari, right?"

"Yeah," Shinji replied. "Shinji Ikari."

"Thanks a lot for the save back there," Fumio said. "When that ghost showed up, me and my sister ran into that warehouse to try and hide. When she followed us in there and cornered us, we thought we were goners for sure."

This was not the response Shinji had expected at all. If anything, he would have thought that anyone who went to school would react to the discovery that he had freaky ghost powers by taking it as confirmation that the current haunting of Shinjuku-2 really was his family's fault and blame him for it.

"Um, thanks," he replied, unable to think of anything else to say. "Uh, where are we?"

"Oh, this is my home," Fumio replied. "After you passed out, I wanted to take you to the hospital, but Miss Bossy said we'd probably expose your secret if we did, and that they probably couldn't treat ghost-inflicted wounds, anyway. So we carried you here. Fortunately, it's pretty close to that warehouse."

"Miss Bossy?" Shinji asked, feeling very much as though he was behind the curve in this conversation.

"My twin sister Kamiko," Fumio explained. "Speaking of her, we should probably let her know you woke up. Come on."

Shinji nodded and obediently followed Fumio out of the room. The rest of the house looked perfectly normal and neat in a way that the Ikari residence never had, despite Shinji's best efforts. He immediately felt a stab of envy, which he did his best to suppress.

In the house's kitchen, they found the girl that had been in the warehouse along with Fumio, doing homework. This _had_ to be Fumio's sister, Shinji realized; the resemblance was uncanny. Her hair was longer than her brother's, reaching her shoulders, and she was a wearing a girl's school uniform, but otherwise she looked almost exactly like him. Even the glasses she was wearing were identical to Fumio's.

"Hey, Sis, look who's up," Fumio said to her, instantly causing her to look up from her books.

"You're awake!" Kamiko exclaimed, instantly springing to her feet and rushing over to Shinji.

For a moment, he thought she was going to hug him and stiffened. However, she instead bowed formally to him, which made Shinji feel marginally less uncomfortable than a hug would have.

"Thank you for saving us," she said.

"…you're welcome," Shinji replied slowly, wholly unused to such a level of gratitude.

"Where did you get those cool powers from?" Kamiko asked. "Do you know where that ghost came from? Do you think you got rid of her forever?"

For a second, Shinji could only blink stupidly in response to these rapid-fire questions. Then he opened his mouth to make some kind of reply, only to close it again. He'd doubtlessly have to explain everything to these two to answer all their questions, and did he really want to do that? There were things he really didn't want people to know…

_But they already know who I am,_ he thought. _Do I really have much a choice when it comes to telling them the rest of it?_

Reluctantly, Shinji told Fumio and Kamiko the whole story. He explained about the ghost portal his uncle had constructed, how it had given him his powers, and how the haunting of Shinjuku-2 had begun as soon as his uncle got the ghost portal working in earnest.

The room was silent for several moments once Shinji had finished with his story, until Kamiko spoke up.

"You know what this means, don't you?" she asked.

_That my and uncle and me are to blame for everything that's been happening to this town lately?_ Shinji thought, expecting to be shown the door any second now.

"What?" Fumio asked while Shinji remained silent.

"We have to stop the ghost!" Kamiko declared.

"We do?" Shinji asked.

"We do?!" Fumio squawked.

"Yes, we do," Kamiko said, looking at the two boys in a way that dared them to protest. "That ghost's stunts have been getting worse ever since she showed up, and if you hadn't saved us, Shinji, she really might have killed us."

"Which is a good reason to think about going after the ghost a little more," Fumio put in.

Kamiko glared at her brother, then continued. "Unless Shinji chased her away for good, it's just a matter of time until she attacks someone again, and then she probably _will_ kill them," she said. "We're the only ones who know about her and can do something to stop her. We _have_ to do something!"

Fumio sighed. "I told you she was bossy, Shinji."

"You shut up!" Kamiko snapped, then turned to Shinji. "You know I'm right. We can't just let that ghost run around doing whatever she wants."

Shinji swallowed. The thought of confronting that ghost again filled him with dread, especially considering how narrowly he'd managed to eke out a victory the first time. However, the thought of him being responsible for someone's death was terrible. The responsibility for the relatively harmless parts of the haunting was bad enough.

"You are right," Shinji admitted reluctantly. "We have to do something."

"Oh, boy," Fumio groaned. "Listen, Shinji, even if you agree with my sister, don't _ever_ tell her she's right. That just makes her even more annoying."

"Oh, knock it off, you," Kamiko growled, then turned her attention to Shinji once more. "Okay, the first thing we should probably do is—"

She was interrupted by the sound of the house's front door opening, followed by a woman's voice calling, "I'm home!"

A moment later a woman walked into the kitchen, dropping her purse on the table as she did so. "Hi, kids," she greeted. "Who's your friend?"

"Welcome home, Mom. This is Shinji Ikari, from school," Kamiko introduced him, and Shinji waved shyly.

"Ikari…Ikari…hey, you're not related to that Ichigo Ikari, are you?"

Shinji winced. "I'm his nephew," he said. "But I'm not involved with his ghost stuff at all."

He realized as soon as the disclaimer had left his lips that it was no longer true, and he flushed.

"I see. Well, kids, will your new friend be staying for dinner?" Mrs. Kasuga asked.

The offer felt Shinji to feel a sudden spike of anxiety. He was totally used to social get-togethers like eating at another person's house; he'd already ventured far outside his comfort zone that day, and wasn't looking to do so further. More than that, though, he was already finding himself jealous of the Kasuga twins and their wonderfully normal home. He wasn't sure he could bear to sit down to dinner with their normal—and whole—family.

"Um, actually, I should probably be going," Shinji said.

He turned to Fumio and Kamiko and gave them a quick bow. "Thank you for, um, inviting me here," Shinji said. "You can come over to my place tomorrow after school if you'd like. It's the, uh, weird house."

"We'll be there," Kamiko pledged, and Shinji couldn't help but note wryly that neither she nor her brother needed further directions on how to identify his home.

Giving Mrs. Kasuga a quick bow, Shinji retreated from the house.

* * *

The next day, there was a knock on the door not long after Shinji had returned from school. He quickly abandoned what he was doing to answer it, and was not surprised to see the Kasuga twins on his front porch. Fumio had a thick book under one arm.

"Hi, guys," Shinji greeted them. "Come on in. Uh, sorry about the mess." He added embarrassedly.

"Interesting place you've got here," Fumio commented as he looked around, speaking with an utter lack of condescension that honestly shocked Shinji.

"Thanks," he replied. "My uncle's out of town for a few days, so we have it all to ourselves."

"Good," Kamiko said. "That should make things easier for us. Hopefully, we can deal with this ghost before he gets back."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed unenthusiastically.

He may have admitted his duty to stop the ghost, but that didn't mean he had to like the idea.

"Anyway, I've been thinking over the situation," Kamiko said, "and the way I see it, we have two main problems. The first is that we don't know how to find the ghost again, and the second is that we don't know how to permanently get rid of her once we do track her down."

"Those do seem like pretty big problems, all right," Fumio chimed in, interrupting his sister's spiel and getting a glare in return.

"I've been meaning to ask you, how did you find us in that warehouse, anyway?" Kamiko asked Shinji. "You weren't just hanging around there, were you?"

Shinji shook his head. "I have this…ghost sense, I guess you'd call it," he said. "It seems to go off whenever I'm close enough to a ghost, but it doesn't point me in the right direction, and I don't think the range is that big. Sorry."

"Not your fault," Kamiko said. "It just means we'll have to try something else. Didn't you mention that you set off your uncle's 'specter detector' one time?"

"Hey, yeah!" Shinji said. "We should be able to find the ghost with that, if she's still in town."

"Okay, that just leaves us with the problem of what to do once we find the ghost," Kamiko said.

"Hey, don't look at me," Shinji said, raising his hands in a warding gesture. "I'm as new at this ghost hunting business as you are."

"Your uncle must have some kind of ghost catching gizmo," Kamiko said.

"Well, I guess there is the Ikari thermos," Shinji mused.

Fumio snickered, earning another glare from his sister.

"Sorry," he said contritely, "but why would anyone make some anti-ghost gadget out of a thermos?"

"It's not really a thermos," Shinji said embarrassedly. "It just looks like one, which is why Uncle calls it that. But it doesn't work. Uncle can't get it to power up."

"Do you think he'd notice if I took a look at it?" Kamiko asked. "I'm pretty good at fixing things."

Shinji shrugged. "Sure you can try, but the thing never worked to begin with, so I'm not sure if you can really hope to fix it."

He led the two siblings down, and Kamiko released a low whistle as she saw the overabundance of equipment that lurked in the basement of the Ikari home. "This place is an arsenal of anti-ghost weapons!"

"Yeah, and for all we know, none of it works besides the specter detector," Shinji said.

"Maybe we could test some of it," Kamiko mused. "See what works and what doesn't."

"_No_," Fumio said firmly. "No. No way. Forget it."

"Huh? What's your problem?" Kamiko asked with a frown.

"Because, dear sister, I already know what you're thinking, and we're _not_ figuring out what works by testing it all out on Shinji!" Fumio exclaimed.

"I was _not_ thinking about doing that!" Kamiko objected.

"You would have," Fumio grumbled.

"Here's the Ikari thermos, Kamiko," Shinji said, holding out a white and green cylinder at her, while also interrupting the argument.

The twins were confusing, he mused as Kamiko took the device over to the workbench, sat down on a nearby stool, and began to open the casing. They were both so nice to him, but they fought and bickered with each other constantly. He just didn't get it.

Kamiko soon became engrossed in her task, leaving Shinji and Fumio to their own devices. This seemed to suit Fumio fine, as he began talking to Shinji in a low, conspiratorial voice.

"Hey, Shinji, just between you and me, I don't think all this high tech stuff is going to work too well," he said. "So, I've been looking up old folktales and stuff about ghosts. Check it out."

He held up the book he'd been carrying under his arm all this time, and Shinji saw that it was a rather old and battered looking copy of "The Big Encyclopedia of Little Horrors." Then Fumio lay it down on a convenient piece of large equipment and opened it up.

"You probably know this already," Fumio said as he flipped through the pages, "but that ghost we ran into fits the description of an onryo perfectly."

"No, I didn't know that," Shinji said. "I've never been into ghosts before. I don't even watch horror movies."

Deliberately trying to keep himself as ignorant as possible on the subject of ghosts was the closest thing to rebellion Shinji had ever indulged in. Or at least, it had been, until he'd kicked the Ghost Portal.

"Really?" Fumio said, clearly surprised. "I love 'em. I'll have to introduce you to some of the classics some time. Aha! Here we go!" he added as he finally found the page he was looking for.

Shinji looked at the page, which contained the book's onryo entry, and was startled at the picture that went with it. All the details were almost exactly the same, and only the face was significantly different from the ghost they'd encountered.

"Wow," Shinji said.

"Yeah, a dead ringer, right? Um, no pun intended," Fumio said. "Anyway, onryu are supposed to be vengeful spirits, who will haunt the person that hurt them while they were alive, but may also haunt whole towns."

"That sounds about right," Shinji said. "How do you get rid of one?"

"That's the problem," Fumio said. "Onryo are supposed to be some of the hardest ghosts to exorcise. Sometimes they go away if their family gets revenge on whoever hurt them, but even that's not a sure bet."

"Well, we can't try that," Shinji said. "I don't want to hurt someone, and we don't even know who that ghost was when she was alive, anyway."

"Yeah, no argument here," Fumio said. "But this book also says that ofunda are good at stopping ghosts."

"What's an ofunda?" Shinji asked.

Fumio gave him a surprised look but explained. "It's a strip of paper or cloth or something with the name of something holy written on it, usually a kami," he said. "They're supposed to be really good at warding off evil spirits and stuff. Kamiko thinks that's stupid, but I was going to try and make some anyway."

"Well, we really don't know anything about fighting ghosts, so it seems like a good idea to try everything," was Shinji's measured response.

"I thought you'd see it my way," Fumio said smugly. "I'm going to make some tonight."

* * *

Eventually, Kamiko declared that the task of trying to get the Ikari thermos to work had beaten her, at least for the moment, and she asked Shinji if she could take it home and work on it there. Shinji agreed on the condition that she bring it back tomorrow, since his uncle would be returning the day after.

The next day, he went to school as normal, and the day began to unfold in a perfectly mundane fashion.

That is, until the lunch period came.

"Hey, Shinji," Fumio said, walking up to him as students filed out of the classroom in search of a place to eat. "Why don't you have lunch with me and my sister?"

He blinked, then smiled. No one had ever invited him to eat lunch with them before. "Sure, I'd like that a lot," he said. "Um, do you mind if I ask you a question, though?"

"'Course not," Fumio said. "Ask away."

"Why do you spend so much time with your sister? All you two ever seem to do is fight," Shinji said.

Fumio laughed. "Yeah, we do, don't we? That's just a way it's _always_ been with us," he said. "I don't think we'd know what to do with each other if we weren't fighting."

Shinji didn't really understand, but he didn't press further. Despite the constant bickering, it seemed like the two siblings really didn't mind one another's company at all.

He was wondering how exactly that could be when he suddenly felt a cold chill sweep over him, causing him to shiver. Shinji exhaled, and his breath created steam in the temperate hallway.

Fortunately, only Fumio seemed to notice. "What was _that_?" he whispered.

"Ghost sense," Shinji replied.

"You mean she's _here_?" Fumio hissed in alarm. "Now?"

"She's somewhere around here," Shinji said. "But I don't know where exactly. She could be—"

He was interrupted by an utterly blood curdling scream from a ways off. Shinji and Fumio exchanged looks, both their faces pale, and then took off toward the source of the sound, along with a mass of other students.

After taking a few turns through the hallways, the two boys found the source of the scream. Shinji gasped.

Yuuto lay on the floor, his impossibly wide eyes staring sightlessly up at the ceiling. His skin looked impossibly pale, and his features seemed to be locked in an expression of intense horror. Only his mouth was moving, as he was ceaselessly muttering something Shinji couldn't make out.

"What on Earth is going on here!?" the voice of the principal roared as he pushed through the crowd of shocked students. However, the man stopped short as he saw Yuuto, and for a moment, he looked as stunned and horrified as everyone else.

He quickly regained his composure, however. "Everyone get away from here!" he demanded. "I need to take this student to the nurse, and you're all in the way!"

* * *

There is no place on Earth where news travels more quickly than through a school, and Shinjuku-2 Elementary was no exception to the rule. By the time Shinji and Fumio had escaped the crowd, found Kamiko, and located a place to sit and eat lunch, those who had heard what Yuuto was muttering had already shared the information with everyone.

"If the ghost is a woman, why was Yuuto saying 'It's all his fault' over and over?" Fumio wondered as the three of them spoke in quiet tones.

"He was talking about me," Shinji said miserably.

"Huh? Why?" Kamiko asked.

"Yuuto started blaming me the minute weird stuff started happening, because of what my uncle does," Shinji explained. "The problem is, he's _right_. This is my fault. If I hadn't kicked the inside of my uncle's Ghost Portal, it would still be just a big pile of metal and wires."

He didn't like Yuuto one bit, but Shinji never would have wished what had happened to him upon the bully. Yet thanks to _him_…

"What a load," Fumio said. "Look, Shinji, even if your kicking your uncle's Ghost Portal thingy is the reason it started working, that doesn't make all this your fault. You couldn't have known what would happen when you kicked it, and it's not like you _built_ the thing."

"But I should have done something about the ghosts sooner," Shinji protested.

Kamiko shook her head. "You don't know anything about ghosts, and you didn't know how serious the situation was until the day before yesterday," she said. "Look, much as it pains me to say it, my brother's right. You can't beat yourself up over this."

"Well, my fault or not, we have to stop this ghost. Now. Today," he said. "We can't let this happen to someone else."

"You're right," Kamiko agreed. "She seems to have a particular thing for the school. At least, I don't know any place else where the walls have been bleeding."

"You think maybe the principal has an old skeleton in his closet that's come back to haunt him…literally?" Fumio asked.

Kamiko shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Anyway, let's meet back here two hours after the school day's over. Just about everyone should be gone by then. I'll bring the Ikari thermos, and my brother will bring his stupid pieces of paper."

"Considering you haven't gotten the thermos to work, I think you shouldn't be calling my ofunda stupid," Fumio grumbled but without the usual level of heat. The attack on Yuuto had muted everyone, including the three of them.

"What should I bring?" Shinji asked.

Kamiko gave him a small, wry smile. "The specter detector, and your ghost powers."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Here we have Shinji's first encounter with a ghost, as well as him finding some new comrades.

Now, on the ghost in this chapter, any fan of _Danny Phantom_ will know that she wasn't one of the spooks from the show. At least a couple of Danny's rogues will make an appearance later on, but I thought the ghost Shinji first cuts his teeth on should have a more Japanese flavor (though, in all honestly, I doubt that onryo or any kind of Japanese ghost uses the flames that tend to hover by them, which I think are called hitodama, for attacking).

On Shinji's new partners in ghost hunting, I know at least a few of my readers were expecting Japanese versions of Sam and Tucker, similar to the Japanese version of Jack being Shinji's uncle. There were a few reasons I didn't take this route. For one, parts of their characters didn't seem quite appropriate for a Japanese setting; I have no idea if there are Goths in Japan, or if there's any more-or-less equivalent group there, and you'd have to be pretty rich to live in Japan and eat half as much red meat as Tucker does. Plus, I wanted one of Shinji's new companions to be really type-A, since I don't think he'd go out and do the superhero thing unless someone persuaded/cajoled him into it. Besides, even though Shinji has Danny's powers, he's still got his own personality, so it's not like the same group dynamic could exist, anyway.

Anyway, in the final part of our extended prologue, we get to see Shinji and the Kasuga twins attempt to bag their first ghost!

As always, thanks to all my readers and reviewers.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Life Before NERV, Part Three of Three: The Call**

The school day seemed to drag on endlessly after Yuuto was found babbling on the floor in one of the hallways, and time refused to speed up for Shinji when he returned home to wait the addition two hours. He tried to do a little homework, but his mind kept wandering to the task he had ahead of him. He was sure that Fumio and Kamiko both had last minute preparations to make, which was why he hadn't asked to accompany them to their home to wait.

Shinji himself felt rather useless as he tried to do math problems. Of course, even he recognized that this was rather silly, since his ghost powers were the only weapon they had against the ghost that they were sure was effective, but that didn't help the guilty feeling that chewed at him.

Finally, the time came, and Shinji gratefully set out for the school, actually glad to be walking toward a confrontation after a full day of waiting for it. He soon spotted his comrades in ghost hunting once he got close to the school.

"Hey, guys," he greeted them. "Ready to do this?"

"In a second, Shinji," Fumio said. "First, we have got to show you something we found—"

"You mean something _I_ found," Kamiko interrupted. "I had a hunch, so I started going through the online school records once we got home, and I found this."

She handed Shinji a black and white photograph that she had printed out, and his eyes widened as he looked at it. The picture showed a woman with the exact same face as their ghost.

"Who is this?" he asked.

"Her name's Michi Kobayashi," Kamiko said. "She used to be a science teacher here."

"I've never seen her," Shinji said.

"Neither have we," Kamiko said. "She was gone before we started here, _but_ a cousin of ours went to school while she taught."

"And?" Shinji asked.

"And apparently Kobayashi-san was a terrible teacher, and everyone despised her," Kamiko said.

"Our cousin used to call her the 'youngest old witch ever,'" Fumio put in.

"The student body pretty much went to war with her," Kamiko said. "When I pressed our cousin about, he admitted that he wasn't sure what came first: Kobayashi being an awful teacher that gave everyone a hard time, or a whole bunch of students making her life miserable, so we're not really sure what caused what."

"They 'went to war with her'?" Shinji asked, frowning in confusion.

"It started out as pranks, but pretty soon tons of people were doing everything they could to make her miserable," Kamiko explained. "Some of the older students started vandalizing her car, for instance."

"They'd break the windows and slash her tires," Fumio elaborated.

"Wow," Shinji said.

"Yeah, and apparently the principal at the time wasn't too concerned about trying to make it stop," Kamiko said. "One day, she was caught drinking alcohol on the job, and she was fired. Not longer after that, she committed suicide."

"That's terrible," Shinji said.

He knew only too well what it was like to endure torment at the hands of his fellow students, so many of whom seemed to take such joy in making him miserable. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the woman who had endured far more at the school than he had, even if she was a vengeful ghost now.

"Well, terrible or not, we can't let her get away with getting revenge on the students who go to the school now," Kamiko said. "I just researched into her background because I figured every little bit of info helps."

Shinji nodded and looked at the school. It appeared far more ominous than usual. "Well, let's go in," he said, but did not move.

"Just for the record, this is a really bad idea," Fumio said.

"No one's making you come with us, you know," Kamiko grumbled. "You can stay out here, where it's safe."

"And let you two get killed? No way," Fumio replied. "Let's go."

The three of them entered the school by one of the side doors, which creaked loudly as it opened, something the three children most definitely did not need. Shinji took out the specter detector and switched it on.

"Ghost detected! Ghost detected!" it announced immediately.

All three children immediately stiffened and began to look around wildly. Fumio held up his ofunda, Kamiko clutched onto the still dormant Ikari thermos, and Shinji just raised his hands in a very awkward sort of defensive stance.

"Where is it?" Fumio hissed.

"I…I don't know," Shinji said. "My ghost sense hasn't…"

He trailed off, slowly realizing what had happened. He smacked himself on the forehead when he finally pieced it together, then forced a weak chuckle.

"I forgot to set it to ignore me," he confessed sheepishly.

The Kasuga twins groaned as Shinji quickly began to press buttons on the thing. In a few moments, the specter detector's alarms had turned into a slow, steady beeping sound.

"Any sign of our ghost?" Fumio asked.

"Not yet," Shinji replied. "Come on, let's walk around a little. Hopefully we'll pick something up soon."

"She might not be here, seeing as how it's after school hours," Fumio said. "Maybe we should try some of the local hangouts."

"Why, little brother, are you _really_ that scared?" Kamiko teased.

"No!" Fumio snapped, his shrill tone of voice belying his true feelings. "And don't call me 'little brother.' I'm only twenty minutes younger than you are!"

"It's possible that the ghost isn't here," Shinji said, interrupting the argument. "We know she doesn't stay here all the time, but since I don't think she made the walls bleed during the day, we know she doesn't leave once the school day ends."

The three of them trekked through the building for almost an hour, eventually reaching the gym, which was the last place for them to search. The specter detector hadn't stopped its steady rhythm of beeps once.

"Looks like she's not here," Shinji said. "We could head back to the area by the warehouse, or I guess we could try that…" he suddenly trailed off.

"Try that what?" Fumio asked after Shinji had been silent for a few seconds.

"Shinji? Are you all right?" Kamiko asked.

"I feel cold," Shinji said, just before the specter detector began to beep wildly.

"Ghost detected. Ghost detected," the device spoke.

For the second time that day, Shinji exhaled a cloud of steam.

Then the wailing started. It seemed to come from everywhere, and it echoed off all the walls, until it was like the ghost surrounded them entirely.

"Oh, I've seen this scene before," Fumio said. "It never ends well for the heroes."

"This isn't one of your stupid movies!" Kamiko snapped, though her voice trembled with fear.

Suddenly, a rack full of basketballs was knocked over by some invisible force and hit the floor with a loud crash that caused the three children to jump. They barely had time to register what had made the noise before a dozen basketballs floated into the air and then went hurtling toward them at breakneck speeds.

It looked like the three of them were about to suffer several broken bones, at the very least. However, some instinct Shinji didn't know he had seized him then, and in the split second before impact, he placed a hand on one of each of the Kasuga twins' shoulders, then concentrated.

Immediately, all three of them became both invisible and intangible, and the numerous missiles passed harmlessly through them, striking the far wall of the gym and then bouncing away, apparently no longer possessed.

Shinji took his hands off of Fumio and Kamiko, and they all reverted back to their normal states.

"I feel tingly," Fumio said, looking a bit woozy.

"Thanks for the save, Shinji," Kamiko said. "Again."

"Considering why you're here, I don't think you owe me for that one," he said. "Besides, this isn't over yet."

Fumio nodded, regaining his composure. "Michi Kobayashi! I demand that you show yourself!" he shouted in a surprisingly formal tone.

There was another loud, screaming wail, and the ghost materialized before them, looking exactly as she had the last time they'd confronted her.

"Well, I guess that's my cue to go ghost," Shinji said, willing the transformation to come.

The white rings appeared obediently and swept over his body, changing him into his ghostly form. Shinji raised his hands, which once more glowed with a supernatural green light.

"Okay, you guys, take cover and let me try and handle this," he said, trying to sound braver than he felt, which actually wasn't that hard, if only because it seemed impossible to actually sound as terrified as he felt.

"Good luck, Shinji," Kamiko said, taking the specter detector from him.

"Kick her butt, man," Fumio added.

With these words, the twins scurried off toward the entrance of one of the currently empty locker rooms, ducking into it but still peering out at the gym turned battlefield.

There was a moment of complete and utter silence as Shinji and the ghost of Michi Kobayashi faced one another. Though he did his best not to show it, Shinji nearly quailed beneath the force of the ghost's hateful glare.

Indeed, he was almost glad when she broke the silence by releasing a shriek of pure rage and then sending twin streams of blue flames at him.

Dodging the assault, Shinji countered with his new ghost rays, which had been so effective last time. However, this time his enemy was prepared for them, and she was easily able to move out of the way. She retaliated with another blast of fire, which Shinji once more evaded with little difficulty.

The two opponents began to trade shots back and forth, and while Shinji never came particularly close to getting fried, he also didn't seem to be getting nearer to landing a blow himself.

_Besides, even if I do hit her, she'll probably just run away again,_ he thought.

Unless, of course, he was able to utterly destroy her, but he didn't want to do that, especially now that he knew a little bit about what the woman had endured in life.

_Might not have a choice, though,_ he thought grimly. _Of course, it doesn't matter if I can't hit her at all!_

The problem, he soon realized, was that neither his ghost rays nor her fire blasts were that fast moving, and as they had roughly half the gym between them, they both had ample time to evade each other's attacks. If he wanted to hit her, he'd have to close the distance, but that would make it easier for her to hit _him_ as well.

Shinji was understandably not too enthusiastic about this idea, so he decided to try a different tactic.

"Kobayashi-san!" he called out. "Please, stop this! There's no need for any of it!"

The ghost appeared to be taken aback by the sound of her name, which Shinji took as a good (or at least, not bad) sign. He lowered his glowing hands and continued.

"I know that the students here hurt you," he said. "I know how that feels. I've had to put up with bullies since I was five, and I still haven't figured out a good way of dealing with them. I don't blame you for being angry. They hurt you worse than they ever hurt me."

The wisps of blue flame that hung by her head shrank then, returning to the size they'd been the first time he'd seen her. Encouraged, Shinji pressed on.

"But you have to realize that it's a different group of students here," Shinji said. "The ones who hurt you are gone. They went off to different schools. They're probably scattered all over the country by now. The kids here now didn't do anything to you. It would be for the best if you just…moved on."

The ghost was silent for a long, _long_ moment after this, her head bowed. Shinji just stood there, barely daring to breathe while the spirit of Michi Kobayashi deliberated on which path to take.

_She has to move on,_ he thought, biting his lower lip. _She has to!_

The ghost looked up, and Shinji saw something in her dark eyes that he hadn't seen before. Some flicker of emotion that hadn't touched the vengeful spirit until now. His heart leapt, knowing that she was going to head off to wherever it was she belonged now and—

The ghost released another furious wail and the orbs of blue fire that hung by her head swelled in size again. Caught totally by surprise, Shinji didn't move a muscle as a blue firestorm came right for him.

"_AAHHH!_" he shrieked in agony as he was thrown backwards by the fire, feeling like his whole body was burning. He crashed down to the floor of the gym and immediately reverted back to his human form.

Cackling wickedly, ghost prepared to unleash one more blast of flame.

"_No!_" Kamiko shouted, and both she and her brother rushed away from the relative safety of the locker room door, running to put themselves in between Shinji and the ghost.

"You're as bad as our cousin said, you witch!" Kamiko shouted at the ghost as she uncapped the still inert Ikari thermos and pointed it at their enemy. "And you're not hurting Shinji!"

"Yeah!" Fumio agreed, withdrawing a half dozen paper ofunda from his pockets and holding them out. "We owe this guy, and we're not letting you near him!"

"Guys, no," Shinji groaned, raising his head off the floor and remaining conscious with the greatest of efforts. "Run."

"No way, Shin-man," Fumio said.

"We're in this together," Kamiko said.

"Guys…"

The ghost of the vengeful teacher didn't care one bit for the conversation the three children were having. She released another wordless scream of anger and sent twin blasts of blue fire at them.

The Kasuga twins stood their ground. The Ikari thermos remained cold and lifeless. Five of Fumio's ofunda were instantly reduced to ash the moment the blue fire touched them.

However, one wasn't. The two streams of fire the ghost was directing at them seemed to recoil the moment one of the touched that one. The ghost unleashed a roar of pure rage and redoubled the ferocity of her assault, but now it seemed as though the flames were striking an invisible wall.

"It works! One of these things works!" Fumio exclaimed, his voice a mixture of surprise and triumph. "And you thought making them was stupid!"

"Gloat later, keep us from dying now!" Kamiko snapped.

Nodding, Fumio stepped forward, assuming the vanguard position while his sister kneeled down next to Shinji, who was struggling to get to his feet. The angry ghost kept an unrelenting stream of fire directed at them, but she couldn't touch them so long as Fumio kept his paper talisman between them.

"Not so tough now, are you, you old hag?" Fumio taunted.

The ghost screamed, and the fire she was sending at them suddenly grew brighter until it was almost white. An instant later, there was a ripping sound, and Fumio suddenly realized that tears were starting to form around the sides of his remaining ofunda.

"She's shredding it!" he exclaimed.

"And this is why you don't make fun of the undead horrors!" Kamiko yelled at him.

"You're not helping!" Fumio retorted.

"Just hang on for a few more seconds!" Kamiko said.

"It's not me that needs to hang on, it's this stupid piece of paper!" Fumio said, watching as the tears in the ofunda began to spread out and grow.

"Shinji," Kamiko said, holding onto the semi-conscious boy's shoulders to keep him from collapsing. "You have to get up. We're out of tricks, and we don't have much time."

"I don't think we have _any_ time!" Fumio exclaimed as he watched the paper in his hand disintegrate.

"Shinji!" Kamiko begged.

With a loud tearing sound, Fumio's ofunda was finally reduced to a few tattered scraps of paper, and the invisible barrier that was holding back the ghost's fire fell, allowing it to surge forward. In a mere fraction of a moment, the Kasuga twins would be incinerated by otherworldly flame.

In that split second, Shinji's mind was flooded with horror, both at the idea of the only two people who were nice to him getting killed, and at him being to blame for it.

Finding a store of energy he hadn't previously realized he possessed, Shinji leapt forward, white light flashing around him as he changed back. His hands blazed with green light as he rushed past the Kasuga twins.

Unfortunately, the assault was too intense for him to block this time. Though his own powers offered him a degree of protection against the fire, the sheer force of his enemy's attack sent Shinji flying backwards. He collided with the twins, and the three of them went sprawling to the floor, a tangled mass of arms and legs.

"Man, we're bad at this," Fumio groaned.

"You're not helping, Sunshine," Kamiko grumbled.

Shinji didn't try and interrupt the twin's bickering this time; he was too busy just trying to figure out which way was up. Though, if he'd been less preoccupied and more inclined to take sides in their arguments, he would have probably agreed with Fumio.

As he was flailing about in an attempt to locate the floor, his hands closed on something round and fairly small. Confused, he held it up in front of his face, and saw that he was holding the Ikari thermos.

And the buttons on it were starting to light up.

_No,_ he thought. _No way. I'm not that lucky._

As if to prove him correct, the ghost unleashed yet another assault at the three of them. Shinji quickly tucked the thermos under his arm, then reached out a put a hand on either of the Kusaga twins. He concentrated, and the three of them all turned intangible and sank into the floor.

"Whoa," Fumio said, as they untangled themselves from one another. "Wicked."

"Thanks," Shinji said absently, watching the ghost, who was quickly turning from side to side, obviously leery of being jumped again. "If only I could get the drop on her, I think I could end this, but I don't think the whole 'jump out of the floor behind her' trick will work twice."

"In that case, I guess there's only one thing to do," Kamiko said. "Send us back up, Shinji. We'll play decoy for you."

"What?" Shinji hissed.

"What?!" Fumio exclaimed.

"It's the only way!" Kamiko said. "You can stay with Shinji if you want, brother, but I'm going!"

Fumio sighed. "Fine, let's do this."

"Guys, are you sure?" Shinji asked worriedly. "What if—?"

"We have to end this fight somehow," Kamiko said, "and I'd rather not argue about the how until that ghost figures outs how to come after us here."

Shinji shook his head. "Okay," he said uncertainly. "Here you…go!"

He threw them upwards with all his might, and they soon cleared the surface of the floor, becoming solid again as he lost contact with them. Kamiko put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly.

"Hey, ghost-lady!" Fumio yelled. "Over here!"

The ghost roared and released another blast of blue fire at them. The twins immediately took off running, both in the same direction.

"What are you doing?" Kamiko demanded. "You were supposed to go left! That way we confuse the ghost by splitting up!"

"Oh? It would have been nice if you'd _told_ me about that!" Fumio snapped in reply.

Silently shaking his head at the hopeless siblings' antics, Shinji quickly moved so that he was behind the ghost and jumped out of the floor, allowing himself to become tangible again and taking the Ikari thermos in hand.

_I _really_ hope this works,_ Shinji thought, pressing one of the buttons.

A beam of blue shot out of the thermos, streaking straight for the ghost. At the last moment, she seemed to sense that someone was behind her and turned, then tried to dodge. However, she was just a bit too slow, and the blue light struck her dead on. Shinji watched with wide eyes as she was dragged, fighting and screaming all the way, toward the thermos. With one last, furious shriek, she was sucked into the ghost catching device, and Shinji promptly put the top back on it.

"Did we just win?" a shocked Fumio asked as the three of them disentangled themselves from one another.

"Um, yeah, it looks like it," Shinji said.

"We're _awesome_ at this!" Fumio exclaimed.

Kamiko released a long suffering sigh, and Shinji, who was feeling strangely giddy now that the danger had passed, threw his head back and laughed.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Shinji?" Kamiko asked a while later, as the three of them stood before the ghost portal in the basement of the Ikari home.

"No," Shinji admitted, "but I'm not willing to bet that the thermos will be able to hold her forever. Besides, I don't want her imprisoned for eternity or anything. She deserves a chance to move on."

"Well, go for it, then," Fumio said.

Nodding, Shinji uncapped the Ikari thermos, pointed it at the ghost portal, and pressed the button to release the ghost. The beam of blue light shot forth, straight into the swirling green energy of the portal, taking the ghost with it.

The three of them tensed, half expecting the ghost to come screaming out at them, but after a few moments passed and nothing happened, they relaxed.

"I still don't get why that thermos thing started working all of sudden," Fumio commented.

"I think that maybe it needs to be charged with ghost energy to work, actually," Kamiko said. "I though the batteries in it looked weird. Maybe they don't run off electricity."  
"Your uncle made a ghost catching gizmo that only a ghost can make work?" Fumio asked Shinji, obviously rather incredulous.

"That actually sounds like exactly the sort of thing Uncle would do," Shinji said.

"Should we destroy it?" Kamiko asked.

"The thermos?" Fumio asked with a confused look.

"No," Kamiko said in annoyance. "The portal. I mean, Shinji, I know your uncle would freak if we trashed it, but if it lets ghosts into the real world…"

"I get what you're saying, but I don't think it's a good idea," Shinji said. "From what I can figure out from Uncle's ramblings about the portal, if we just destroyed it, something really bad could happen, like a huge explosion that could destroy the whole town or something."

"That would be bad," Fumio said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvi—"

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU?!" a booming voice from the top of the stairs interrupted Kamiko.

Shinji sighed. "I'm your nephew Shinji," he said. "You're back from the convention early, Uncle."

"They ordered me to leave early when it turned out that the ghost I caught was a kid wearing a sheet," Ichigo grumbled darkly, then he noticed that Shinji wasn't alone. "Who are those two kids?"

"These are Fumio and Kamiko, Uncle," Shinji answered.

"Am I related to them, too?" Ichigo asked.

"No, Uncle," Shinji replied.

"Oh," Ichigo said. "Well, I need you kids to clear out of my workshop. I have work to do."

"Yes, Uncle," Shinji said, motioning for the twins to follow him up the stairs.

"Come on, let's go back to our place," Fumio said, getting a nod from Shinji.

They made the short walk from the Ikari residence to the Kasuga home in silence, despite still wanting to talk more about the ordeal they'd just been through. The whole matter of fighting ghosts suddenly seemed too important and secret to discuss on the street where just anyone could overhear.

The moment they reached the twin's room, however, the conversation began again.

Or at least, Fumio started talking again. "Hey, Shinji, I've been thinking—"

"Careful, you might strain yourself," Kamiko quipped.

Fumio stuck his tongue out at his sister, then continued. "Since we're not destroying the ghost portal because we don't want to blow up Shinjuku-2, that means more ghosts might show up later, right?"

Shinji and Kamiko exchanged a look. "It's not impossible," Shinji said, not liking the idea one bit.

"If another ghost shows up, we're going to have to stop that one, too," Kamiko said firmly. "After all, there's still no one else who knows about the ghosts, let alone knows how to catch them."

"I guess I can't argue with that," Shinji admitted reluctantly. "Looks like I can't retire my ghost half yet."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that," Fumio said, plucking something from the bookshelf in the room. "Shinji, it sounds to me like you're going into the superhero business here."

Kamiko rolled her eyes. Shinji chuckled. "I wouldn't say that."

"Hey, call it what you want, but running around and using special powers to stop threats that no one else can sounds like superhero work to _me_, and superheroes need a secret identity," Fumio said, waving a comic book that had the letters 'SOE' emblazoned on the cover in Shinji's face.

"As corny as my brother's making all this sound, the secret identity part's actually not such a bad idea," Kamiko said. "The chances of somebody seeing you in your ghostly form are pretty good, assuming we end up having to fight more ghosts, so it would help if you had something ready to tell people if you get asked who you are."

"That makes sense, but what should my alias be?" Shinji asked.

Fumio eagerly opened his mouth, but Kamiko cut him off before he could speak a word. "Brother, I swear, if you say 'Superghost' I really will have to hit you."

He scowled at his sister. "Geeze, give me a _little_ credit. No, what I had in mind was 'Shinji Ikiryo.'"

"Ikiryo?" Shinji echoed, confused.

"An ikiryo is the ghost of person who's still alive," Fumio explained. "The myth doesn't really match up to your situation beyond that, but I think it's cool because it sounds a little like your name."

"It sounds too much like Shinji's surname, if you ask me," Kamiko said dryly. "Someone will figure out that Shinji Ikiryo is Shinji Ikari."

"Maybe he could just go by 'Ikiryo' most of the time, then," Fumio suggested. "What do you think, Shinji?"

"It's a lot more creative than anything I'd come up with, that's for sure," Shinji said.

"So, Ikiryo it is then!" Fumio said.

"Okay, so now that that's sorted out, can we go back to being normal kids now?" Kamiko asked. "No offense or anything, but I'm kind of ghosted out."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Shinji replied.

"Hey, it's almost dinner time," Fumio noted, looking at his wristwatch. "Why don't you stay and eat with us, Shinji?"

"That would be nice, but I really should get home. I didn't get any of my homework done before we went to the school," Shinji said, still not sure he could eat with the perfectly normal Kasuga family without jealousy overwhelming him.

"That stinks," Fumio said. "Well, look, Mom usually doesn't get back for several hours after school's over, and it takes Dad even longer to get home. So if you wanna practice your ghost powers without worrying about setting off your uncle's alarms, or if you just wanna hang out, just come on over."

"Really?" Shinji asked. "You mean it?"

"Of course," Kamiko said emphatically. "Shinji, you saved our lives, and we fought a ghost together. I'd say that makes us friends, right brother?"

"Right!" Fumio agreed. "And friends…hang out outside of ghost hunting."

Shinji smiled, feeling a lump forming in his throat. He'd never had a friend before, and up until this moment, he hadn't dared to hope that he could consider the Kasuga twins friends.

"Thanks, guys," he said, trying not to make it obvious how emotional he was getting.

"Hey, you saved our butts by fighting a ghost with powers you didn't know how to use," Fumio said. "If anything, we should be thanking you."

Kamiko nodded in agreement. "We do still owe you," she said. "If there's anything you need from us, just say so."

Shinji smiled. "Thanks, but I think you've already done enough."

* * *

_Three years later…_

"It's getting away!" Fumio exclaimed as he and his sister ran in pursuit of a white, translucent form that was flying overhead.

"No it's not!" Shinji Ikiryo said.

Like the ghost he was pursuing, Shinji was flying his through the air. His legs had temporarily vanished, replaced by a long wisp of black energy that his friends occasionally referred to as a "ghostly tail." The ability to fly was just one of the many powers he'd discovered since he and the Kasuga twins had caught their first ghost.

Shinji fired several blasts of ghost rays at the specter the three of them were pursuing. Kamiko also opened fire on the ghost, using the "Ikari Wrist Ray," a wrist mounted ecto-gun they had "borrowed" from Ichigo. They didn't hit the ghost, but they did drive it into a small, abandoned building.

"Brother, make with the magic!" Kamiko commanded.

Fumio obeyed, slapping an ofunda onto the wall right next to the old building's door. "There," he said. "Now the ghost can't get out."

"So all we have to do is go in and get it," Shinji said, his legs reasserting themselves as he landed.

He reached for the doorknob, but Fumio held up his hands and exclaimed, "Shinji! Wait!"

He was too late, however. Shinji grabbed the doorknob, then let out a yelp of pain and pulled his hand back as he received a powerful shock.

"Why do I always forget that those things affect me, too?" he wondered aloud as he shook his stinging hand.

"Clearly, your attention span is even shorter than mine," Fumio teased. "Seriously, though, you should have no trouble entering or exiting the house in human form."

"Now he tells me," Shinji said as the rings of white light appeared and changed him back to his normal state.

The three of them entered the place, and Shinji immediately changed back to his ghost form. They looked about, but the ghost they'd been pursuing was well hidden.

"Kamiko?" Shinji whispered.

Wordlessly, the girl took the specter detector out of her backpack and switched it on. After consulting it for a second, she nodded and pointed her wrist ray at a battered old cabinet. Shinji nodded and raised his hand, green light appearing around it.

Kamiko nodded again, and she and Shinji fired at the old cabinet at the same time. It exploded into a cloud of splinters, and the ghost emerged, wailing.

Shinji whipped out the Ikari thermos and pressed the button, catching the ghost in the blue beam. The garden variety spook was easily pulled into the trap, and Shinji quickly put the cap on the thermos.

"Score another one for the Ikiryo-gumi," Fumio said.

"I still think that name is corny," Kamiko commented.

"Well, that's your opinion," Fumio replied nonchalantly.

"It's not like it really matters what our group name is, or even if we have one," said Shinji, ever the peacemaker. "After all, we don't exactly advertise, so nobody else will know about it."

"Good point," Kamiko conceded.

"Anyway, it looks like it's time to head home and send this ghost through the portal," Shinji said as he began to head toward the door. "And I'm feeling kind of hungry. Do you guys want to get a—"

"Shinji, stop!" Fumio exclaimed.

He was once again too late, however, and Shinji tried to push the door open, receiving another powerful jolt.

"I really have to pay more attention to details," Shinji grumbled.

* * *

Soon afterward, the three of them were in the kitchen of the Ikari residence. They had sent their latest catch through the portal, returned the equipment they borrowed from the workshop, and were now sharing a bowl full of potato chips, like perfectly normal teenagers.

They were just about finished when Ichigo walked in. Shinji's uncle had changed very little in the decade since he'd taken his nephew in. The man was still loud, still wore an orange jumpsuit everywhere, and was still as obsessed with ghosts as ever. He'd started to go gray at the temples, but otherwise he even looked almost exactly the same.

"Hey, kids," he greeted, then turned to Fumio, "how you doing, Shinji?"

"I'm Shinji, Uncle."

"Oh," Ichigo said. "Anyway, a letter came for you, Shinji."

He handed it to Shinji, then headed down toward his workshop, leaving the three teens alone in the kitchen again. Shinji frowned as he tore the envelope open. He extracted the letter within…and the color drained from his face.

"Are you all right, Shinji?" Kamiko asked worriedly, noticing his expression.

"Yeah, you usually only look that pale when you're…you know," Fumio added.

"It's from my father," Shinji said softly, putting the letter down on the table so the twins could look at it. The message was very short.

_Come!__–Gendo Ikari_

* * *

**Author's Notes:** And so our little prologue comes to an end, with Shinji a veteran ghost-hunter but hopefully still recognizable as Shinji. Next up, whenever I get around to writing it, Shinji leaves the fairly happy life he's found himself with against all odds and ventures to Tokyo-3.

Ant Crown, thanks for the suggestions with the supernatural stuff, but I don't really want to pull in stuff from other franchises. Keeping a crossover of two under control and coherent can be enough of a challenge.

Belthasar, yeah, Shinji can't use the ofunda unless he's in human form, and since his ghost powers are more potent, there's really no reason for him to do that. The situation's actually not that far from similar ones in the show, as there were some Fenton gadgets Danny couldn't use because of his ghostly nature, such as that belt that I think was called the specter deflector.

Brax, while I do have parts of the plot planned out already, I'm really not sure if I have any use for a Vlad character. The only person who'd really make sense for that role is Gendo (say he and Yui visited Ichigo and Gendo had an encounter with a prototype Ghost Portal), but Gendo's already a daunting enough villain without ghost powers.

As always, thanks to all my readers and reviewers.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Welcome to NERV, Now Pilot the EVA!**

"Due to the special state of emergency, all lines are currently unavailable. This is a recording," came through the pay phone Shinji was currently holding to his ear.

Rolling his eyes, Shinji hung up the phone and walked a few paces away from it, crossing his arms over his chest. He heaved a great sigh in a rather exaggerated gesture of exasperation and annoyance he probably wouldn't have indulged in if anyone was watching him.

"What a pain," he grumbled. "I knew I shouldn't have come."

Indeed, his first impulse after recovering from the shock of receiving his father's letter was to tear the thing into confetti and then pretend he'd never gotten it at all. The idea of going to see the man utterly terrified him, and he had little desire to leave his surprisingly happy existence in Shinjuku-2.

Kamiko was mostly responsible for his presence in Tokyo-3 at the moment. Upon learning that Shinji intend to refuse to go, she had, in that calmly authoritative way of hers, proceeded to cajole him into answering the summon.

_"He's your father, Shinji. You can't just write him off like that. Go to Tokyo-3, and if he's as bad as you remember, then you can come back with no regrets. But if you just rip that letter up, then you'll always be wondering what would have happened if you'd gone."_

He still hadn't wanted to go, and he'd told Kamiko that he would _not_ ever regret refusing to respond, because he didn't care about his father at all. However, that was a lie; some part of him still wished to reconcile with the man and wanted his father to want him, and Kamiko had known it. So eventually he'd just caved and agreed to go, almost as much to silence her as for any other reason.

With a sigh, Shinji reached into his bag, withdrawing a photograph that had come with his father's letter but was most definitely _not_ from his father.

It showed a very attractive woman, who was wearing daringly short denim shorts and a yellow tank top. The woman had put a kiss mark onto the photo in lipstick, along with a short message.

"Shinji-kun, I'll be picking you up, so wait for me, okay? P.S. Note the cleavage!" it read, along with an arrow pointing to her considerable bust, as if a fourteen-year-old boy's eyes wouldn't make their way there on their own.

A small smirk appeared on Shinji's face as he recalled Fumio's reaction to seeing this photograph.

_"Whoa! Shinji, you have to go! And if you don't, _I_ will!"_

Kamiko had snapped at him to shut up and told him he was being a pig after _that_ comment; ever since puberty had hit their age group, the elder Kasuga twin had taken it upon herself to curb her brother's "deviant tendencies."

Shaking his head slightly, Shinji put his thoughts of his friends aside. A look of annoyance appearing on his face again, he checked his wristwatch, confirming that his ride was late.

"I'll give her ten more minutes," he decided aloud.

He wasn't overly concerned about the state of emergency. Even assuming the whole thing wasn't some kind of elaborate drill, if something happened, he could easily avoid harm by going intangible. As he didn't want to be there anyway, though, he wasn't going to wait around all day. Indeed, he hoped his ride didn't show and gave him an excuse to go ghost and fly home.

Abruptly, Shinji jerked out of his annoyed thoughts and looked up.

There was no one and nothing else to be seen. He was the only person present, and the whole area around him was almost preternaturally silent. Yet he could have sworn that he'd seen a flicker of motion in his peripheral vision a second ago, along with a glimpse of something blue.

_Ghost?_ He wondered warily. It was unusual for any of the specters he was familiar with to wander very far from the portal in his uncle's basement, but it wasn't unheard of. Besides, there was always the possibility ghosts he _wasn't_ familiar with to deal with.

He exhaled through his mouth, but his breath failed to create steam in the open air. That didn't necessarily mean a whole lot, though. The range of his ghost sense had never been very great, and he could see easily for more than a kilometer down the straight road before him.

Before he could ponder the matter further, he heard the sound of a number of birds taking flight and turned just in time to see them vacating some nearby telephone lines. He frowned.

_I wonder what startled—_

He was cut off in mid thought as the ground abruptly trembled beneath his feet. Somehow, Shinji knew that it was not an earthquake he was feeling.

Before he could collect himself, there was a _spectacular_ burst of noise from nearby. Wincing, Shinji covered his ears and turned to see a trio of military aircraft emerging from behind a mountain that stood near Tokyo-3. They looked like they were running away from something.

He didn't have to wait long to see what that something was.

In the three years since he'd first gotten his ghost powers and then accepted the responsibility for catching the ghosts that came through his uncle's portal device, Shinji had seen and experienced some truly bone chilling things. A ghost that invaded the sleeping mind of his victims to give them the worst nightmares imaginable, a ghost that turned into a dragon, and even a few monsters that wouldn't have been out of place in a Lovecraftian horror story.

Yet nothing he'd ever encountered could rival the sheer _size_ of what was pursuing the attack planes.

A massive figure, vaguely humanoid with a bony, bird-like face appeared from behind the mountain. It moved at a slow, casual gait, but its long, gangly legs ate up the distance at a phenomenal rate. The military aircraft, which barely seemed capable of keeping ahead of it, looked like flies in comparison.

As Shinji watched, the fighters unleashed a hail of missiles, nearly all of which struck their enormous target dead on. The boy squinted and looked away as great fireballs erupted, briefly looking like miniature suns.

After a few seconds, the light faded, and Shinji was able to look at the giant creature again. He gaped in surprise as he realized that the great beast didn't have so much as a single scratch on it.

_My god…_

On some level he knew that this was his cue to go ghost and then fly the hell away and never look back. Indeed, it was a better excuse for leaving Tokyo-3 before meeting his father than he ever could have hoped for, but he couldn't leave. He couldn't even move.

At that moment, all he could do was stand there and stare up at the monster in horrified awe.

* * *

Meanwhile, several kilometers away and much further down, the NERV command center was a buzz of activity. The huge main screen showed a tactical display of the enemy's position, as well as its most likely course.

"The object is still approaching our position," Maya announced.

"Putting it up on the main screen," Aoba added.

The tactical display disappeared, instantly replaced by the image of the huge creature that Shinji Ikari was staring dumbly at up above them. Thanks to the JSDF task force that was currently engaging the gigantic beast, they were afforded a very close up, high quality picture of the thing.

Most of the technical staff in the command center wished that they weren't able to get such a good look; the sight of it sent a collective shiver through nearly everyone there.

In stark contrast to them all were the two Commanders, observing the creature while they patiently waited for NERV to be given its turn at attacking the beast.

"It's been fifteen years, hasn't it?" Fuyutski asked.

"Yes, there can be no mistake," Gendo said, the explosion from one of the JSDF's missiles reflecting off his glasses. "The Angels are back."

* * *

Outside, Shinji continued to watch the bizarre battle unfolding before him. The squadron of heavy fighters had now surrounded the Angel, and moments later, they unleashed a full barrage, throwing everything they had at their colossal foe. For a few seconds, the Angel nearly vanished in a great cloud of flame.

Yet as impressive as this display was, when the fire and smoke had cleared, the Angel remained unharmed.

The fighters had, however, managed to finally get the Angel's full and undivided attention. With a quick, jerky movement, the monster raised one of its spindly arms, pointing it toward one of the fighters. Before the heavy aircraft could move out of the way, a lance of violet light shot forth from the Angel's palm, cleanly slicing off one of the plane's engines. The pilot bailed out as the aircraft went into an uncontrolled crash, its burning, smoking form careening toward the earth.

Watching it, Shinji eventually realized that its trajectory would take it dangerously close to himself. However, he wasn't scared, mostly because he was still too busy being shocked. With an absentminded thought, he willed himself to become intangible just before the plane crashed only a hundred or so meters away from him. Bits of the plane broke off as it impacted the ground, and a few of them flew harmlessly through him.

The Angel's foot, which by itself was many times larger than Shinji's body, crashed down upon the fallen plane seconds later, shattering the craft like it was nothing more than a toy.

Somehow, this was what finally managed to knock Shinji out of his stupor. He wondered what the hell was wrong with him; it had been years since something had been able to leave him so totally out of it for so long. Then again, he'd never encountered something quite like this before.

"All right, forget this town," Shinji said to no one in particular, "I'm going gh—!"

Suddenly, the instant before he transformed, a blue car pulled up to him, stopping abruptly with a loud screech of brakes. The door opened, revealing the woman in the photograph he had, looking every bit as lovely in real life.

"I'm sorry," she said, in a surprisingly casual tone, considering what was going on around them, "didn't mean to keep you waiting."

With the ruined plane burning merrily behind the cool blue sports car that held the beautiful woman, the scene looked like it belonged in some action movie or another.

For a split second, Shinji seriously contemplated transforming and flying back to Shinjuku-2 despite the appearance of his ride. Then he leapt into the empty passenger seat of the car.

"Drive!" he shouted as he slammed the door closed behind him.

She didn't need to be told twice and slammed her foot down on the accelerator. There was another screech, this time of burning rubber, as she pulled away. Shinji, who was on his hands and knees on the passenger seat thanks to his hasty entrance, was thrown about a bit before he managed to get into the proper position and buckle his seat belt.

Once he was in a more secure position, he turned to watch the battle behind them. The fighters continued to fire away at the Angel, but they were still nothing more than an annoying cloud of insects to it.

"So, does this sort of thing happen here often?" he asked, smiling weakly.

The woman released a burst of laughter. "I think we'll get along just fine, kid," she proclaimed.

"Uh, thanks," Shinji said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Anyway, to answer your question, this isn't a regular occurrence," she said, then she sobered somewhat and added, "yet."

Shinji turned to look at her, and for an instant the obvious question was on the tip of his tongue. Then he decided that he probably _didn't_ want her to elaborate.

"Oh," was all he said.

The following silence quickly began to drag out.

"So, anyway, in case I forgot to write it on that message I sent you, my name's Misato Katsuragi," she said to break the quiet.

"Nice to meet you, Katsuragi-san," Shinji said politely. "I'm Shinji Ikari, but I guess you already knew that."

"Oh, just 'Misato' is fine," she said. "No need to get formal. It makes me feel old."

Shinji was aware that Fumio would have immediately taken this opportunity to deliver some compliment to Misato, telling her that she was young and beautiful but doing it in the corniest way humanly possible. He felt a brief impulse to try it but simply didn't have the nerve.

Which was probably for the best, considering that Fumio was zero-for-every attractive woman he'd ever met.

"All right, Misato-san," he agreed.

She smirked slightly at his use of the honorific, and the conversation sputtered out again. The silence that followed was more comfortable than the last one had been.

They soon came to a long, straight section of road. The streets were currently deserted thanks to the state of emergency, and Misato clearly saw no reason not to take advantage of the situation, pressing the accelerator down as far as it would go. Shinji gripped the sides of his seat as the engine roared and he was pushed back by the force of acceleration.

"So, are we in a rush?" he squeaked out.

"Eh, not particularly," Misato answered casually, grinning widely.

They managed to cover a remarkable amount of distance in a very short time like this. Eventually, Misato brought the car to a stop. Shinji was about to ask why, since they weren't close to anything that looked significant, but it became clear when Misato grabbed a pair of binoculars from the glove compartment.

"What's happening?" he asked as she peered through the binoculars without exiting the car.

"It looks like they're still engaging the Angel…wait, now they're…" she trailed off as she watched the fighters all abruptly scatter.

Misato felt her blood run cold; she knew what _that_ meant.

"They're gonna use an N2 mine!" she shouted.

"_What?!_" Shinji squawked in alarm.

"_Get down!_" she screamed.

She threw herself on top of him, tackling him to get him below the windows. It was rather close contact, but as he had the wind knocked out of him, Shinji didn't really enjoy it.

Ironically, it was unnecessary. The moment Shinji recovered from being tackled, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Immediately, he, Misato, and the car all went intangible. The shockwave from the N2 mine washed over them harmlessly.

Being intangible didn't shield them from the heat, however, and Shinji grimaced as the temperature inside the car jumped sharply.

After a few seconds, he cautiously allowed them to become tangible again, and Misato started to get up moments later.

"Wow, I feel all tingly for some reason," she said, clutching at her head.

"Uh, considering how close we were to that explosion, I'd say we could be a lot worse than 'tingly,'" Shinji said nervously.

"Good point," Misato agreed, shaking her head to clear it.

Then she proceeded to get out of the car. Shinji frowned. "Where are you going?" he asked in bewilderment.

Misato ignored him, however, and instead began to slowly walk around her car. Shinji got out just as she had finished making a complete circle around the vehicle.

"Yes!" Misato exclaimed, throwing her hands exuberantly up into the air.

The sudden motion caused her chest to move in rather interesting ways. The adolescent boy forced himself to politely look away.

"What?" he asked.

"There's not a scratch on my car!" Misato said exuberantly. "I knew this Renault was the right choice! It's like a tank! A tank!"

* * *

Down in NERV headquarters, the mood was far less cheerful. The MAGI had recently confirmed that the Angel was still alive despite the N2 mine detonation, which meant that everything the JSDF could hope to throw at it was useless. The trio of officers from that organization were grim.

"From this point, command of this operation is transferred to NERV," one of them spoke, officially throwing in the towel.

"Yes, sir," Gendo said in a voice that somehow managed to be respectful and ooze contempt at the same time.

"Are you certain that you can defeat it?" the officer asked.

"NERV exists for that purpose," Gendo answered simply.

"We expect much from you," the officer said.

He and his colleagues quickly took their leave after that. It was clear that, regardless of what they did or did not actually expect, they wanted to be far, far away by the time the Angel recovered and came knocking on NERV's door.

Fuyutski turned to the older man once the JSDF men were gone. "The army has been brought to its knees," he noted. "What do you intend to do?"

"Activate Unit One," Gendo answered simply.

Fuyutski frowned. "Unit One? But there's no pilot."

"A spare will be arriving shortly."

* * *

"Are we going to see my father soon?" Shinji asked, feeling his stomach roil with trepidation.

"Yes, soon," was all Misato said.

Not long after getting back into the car, Misato had driven into a tunnel that had taken them underground. From there, they'd soon arrived at a car train, which they were on at the moment. It seemed to Shinji that they were descending very far into the earth.

"Here," Misato said, suddenly handing him a booklet, "read this."

"NERV?" Shinji said, looking at the cover.

"It's the special government agency I work for," Misato said.

"And my father works for NERV, too?" Shinji asked.

"Didn't your uncle ever tell you what your father does?" Misato asked with a slight frown.

"Not really. Uncle has a very…one track mind," Shinji replied in a voice that was tinged with exasperation. "He never really spoke about my father."

"Well, it would be more accurate to say that NERV works for him, but yeah, your dad works here," she answered.

He looked down at the booklet, a grim expression on his face as his earlier anxieties crystallized into certainties. "He hasn't called me here for a family reunion, has he?"

Misato didn't answer, instead just shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Shinji sighed.

_Damn it, Kamiko,_ he thought, fervently wishing he'd never let her persuade him into leaving Shinjuku-2.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he grumbled.

But that was the real hell of it, wasn't it? Part of him _was_ surprised. Part of him had hoped, had perhaps even expected that his father had finally come to regret abandoning him all those years ago and wanted to apologize, at least.

"Sounds like you don't get along with your dad," Misato observed. "…I'm the same way."

Shinji turned to look at her, but when she didn't continue he just shook his head, opened the booklet, and began to read.

He was about one page in when the train car emerged from the tunnel they were in, and, impossibly, sunlight began to stream into the car. He looked up, then gasped aloud at what he saw.

"Incredible!" he exclaimed. "A real Geofront!"

"This is our secret base, NERV headquarters," Misato said proudly. "The key to rebuilding the world, a fortress for all of humanity."

* * *

Not much later, Shinji was deciding that the "fortress for all of humanity" wasn't nearly as exciting from the inside as it was from the outside. Misato had quickly become lost within the structure's labyrinthine interior, and her obvious inability to read the map she had with her wasn't helping them to get to wherever it was they needed to be.

"We've passed this spot twice before already," Shinji pointed out eventually.

The half ghost had given up reading the booklet Misato had given him several minutes ago. The thing hadn't held any concrete information about anything, instead containing just a lot of fluff about how NERV was "defending mankind" and the like. So it wasn't hard for him to notice that they were passing the same landmarks repeatedly.

"Well, don't worry," Misato said, defiantly refusing to acknowledge how completely turned around she was, "these systems exist to be used, after all."

With that, grabbed her cell phone and made a quick phone call. Shinji couldn't figure out the meaning of the conversation from just Misato's half, but he decided against asking. It was becoming increasingly apparent that she wasn't planning on fully explaining the situation to him, for whatever reason, so he contented himself to wait.

Soon, they managed to find an elevator, causing Misato to smile with triumph. "See, we're not as lost as you thought we were," she said smugly as she pressed the button to summon the elevator car. "I have an excellent sense of direction."

Shinji just resisted the urge to roll his eyes. _She gets lucky and she thinks she's some great trailblazer or something._

A few moments later, the elevator pinged and the doors began to slide open, revealing an annoyed looking blond woman who was wearing a white lab coat and, for reasons Shinji couldn't even guess at, a bathing suit.

_This place is weird,_ Shinji decided right then and there.

And coming from someone who had lived his life, that was really saying something.

"Uh, hi, Ritsuko," Misato greeted her timidly.

The blonde wordlessly gestured for Misato and Shinji to enter the car, which they did, the former with a noticeable air of reluctance.

"What are you doing, Captain Katsuragi?" Ritsuko demanded. "Don't you know we're short on both time and manpower?"

Misato forced a chuckle. "Heh, heh, well…"

Ritsuko's eyes narrowed. "Did you get lost again?" she asked.

"…sorry," Misato said with an apologetic gesture, thus admitting that she had indeed gotten lost.

Ritsuko sighed in a long suffering sort of way but then calmed down. Her gaze then flicked over to Shinji.

"So, this is the boy, I presume?"

Misato nodded. "Yes, according to the Marduk report, he's the Third Child."

"Nice to meet you," Ritsuko said with a curt nod.

"You, too. So, are you going to tell me why I'm here?" he asked in a rather dry tone, not expecting a straight answer from Ritsuko.

He wasn't proven wrong.

"You'll find out soon," was all Ritsuko said.

After the group emerged from the elevator, they made a quick stop at the locker rooms, allowing Shinji to put away his bag and backpack while the two women changed into their professional attire. From there, it was a short, if somewhat bizarre trip (at one point they used a hovercraft to pass an immense pool of red coolant), with Ritsuko and Misato conversing about something the blonde referred to as the "Oni system."

Finally, the three of them arrived in a vast, dark chamber. When the door behind them closed, they were plunged into complete blackness.

_Yeesh, and I thought that they were keeping me in the dark before,_ Shinji thought.

Then the lights snapped on, and Shinji found himself face to face with a huge purple face.

"Gah!" he blurted out, recoiling at the sight of the monstrosity.

It was horrifying to look at, and was obviously intended to be that way. However, Shinji had seen a lot of frightening things in the past, and none of them had shaken him quite like this. For some reason, the face of the giant robot seemed very vaguely…familiar, as though it was something he'd seen in some long forgotten nightmare.

"What is it?" he breathed.

Ritsuko seemed pleased that he'd asked, but she covered her pleasure with a veneer of strict professionalism. "This is the ultimate all-purpose humanoid decisive battle weapon developed by humanity," she said. "The artificial human, Evangelion. This is EVA Unit One."

Shinji turned to look at her, then back at the robot, the Evangelion. Ritsuko continued. "Built here in secret, it is humanity's final trump."

"So…this is my father's work?" Shinji asked.

"Correct," came a cold, flat voice from above him.

Shinji's gaze snapped upwards, and he soon lay eyes upon his father, who stood in a just room above the EVA's long, single horn. The teenaged boy's heart began to pound in his chest as soon as he caught sight of his father, and his palms began to sweat. His stomach churned and suddenly became cold; he felt sick.

The elder Ikari's glasses were different, Shinji noted. The fairly plain pair he'd once worn had been replaced by one with orange-tinted lenses. Other than that, he was every inch the man Shinji remembered from the train station, ten years ago. He hadn't even started going gray like Uncle Ichigo.

Somehow, Shinji thought that he would have felt better if his father showed some visible sign of the years which had passed. He didn't know quite why he felt that way, only that his father looking almost exactly the same disturbed him.

"It's been a while," Gendo commented, far too casually in Shinji's opinion.

"Yes, it has," Shinji agreed softly, if only because he was at a loss for something _else_ to say.

A very faint smirk passed over Gendo's face, and he spoke a single word. "Sortie."

"What?! Isn't Unit Zero still being frozen?" Misato exclaimed from her position next to Shinji. Then she glanced at the great, armored face next to her. "No, you plan on using Unit One?"

"There's no other way," Ritsuko retorted flatly.

"But Rei can't do it yet!" Misato protested, then she took a quick glance at Shinji which thoroughly destroyed any remaining shreds of doubt he might have had about why he had been called. "We don't have a pilot!"

"One has just been delivered," Ritsuko replied, then turned to the teenage boy. "Shinji Ikari, you will get into it."

"Are you serious?" Shinji asked, still not quite able to believe what he already knew to be true.

"As a heart attack," Ritsuko replied grimly.

"But it took Rei months to synchronize with EVA," Misato protested. "Shinji just got here. He can't do it yet!"

"All he has to do is sit in the seat," Ritsuko said. "We don't expect more from him than that."

"But…"

"Right now, intercepting the Angel is our highest priority," Ritsuko continued sternly. "If we have even the slightest chance of activating the EVA, we have to take it. You should know that."

Misato hesitated. "You might be right."

"Whoa," Shinji spoke up, bringing his hands up in the time out gesture. "Hold everything for a second here."

Misato and Ritsuko fell silent, which actually surprised him quite a bit. He looked up, locking eyes with his father, and suddenly the sick feeling in his stomach seemed to change. It didn't get better; if anything, it intensified, but the coldness went away, replaced by a simmering anger that helped him ignore his feeling of nausea.

"Let me get this straight," he began. "You want me to get in that thing and fight the giant monster outside?"

"Correct," Gendo replied.

"Why?" Shinji asked.

"Because no one else can," his father answered curtly.

In the three years he'd been hunting ghosts, Shinji had learned a lot of things, and was one of them was how to think on his feet in high pressure situations. It was a lesson taught by necessity, and he probably would have met his end already if he hadn't picked it fairly soon. Where most teenagers—and for that matter, most people in general—would have been utterly overwhelmed by the crazed whirl of the day, Shinji was still able to think straight.

"I don't believe you," he said flatly.

Gendo frowned. "Why?"

"Why?" Shinji echoed incredulously. "Look at this place. We're standing inside a secret military base inside of a Geofront. It alone probably cost _trillions_ of yen just to build, never mind the cost of the giant robot, which I'll bet has some of the most advanced technology in the world."

Gendo didn't make a reply, choosing instead to give his son a frosty glare. Shinji turned to Ritsuko, who nodded slightly, reluctantly confirming his assumptions.

"And apparently, you knew that monster was coming, or you wouldn't have built all this stuff in the first place," he continued, gesticulating wildly as he grew more and more visibly agitated and angry. "And yet you want me to believe that you made all these preparations only to have _everything_ hinge upon a fourteen-year-old boy who's never even _seen_ any of this before today?"

The following silence was deafening.

"Only a…a complete _fruit loop_ would ever maneuver a group like this into such a position!" Shinji exclaimed, not even trying to contain his emotions any longer. "And I don't think you'd be in charge here if you were that crazy. So, whatever game you've got going here, I won't play!"

Shinji realized he was actually breathing hard as he finished, his outburst having left him feeling drained and weary yet also surprisingly satisfied.

"Shinji," Misato spoke up quietly, "I know this situation might seem unbelievable on the face of it, but he's telling you the truth."

Shinji just turned a skeptical look at her. Misato had seemed nice, but he wasn't about to believe his father's absurd claims just because someone he'd met only that afternoon vouched for them.

"If you're not going to pilot, then leave," Gendo said coldly.

Shinji grit his teeth, and to his mortification, he felt his eyes moisten. To be so casually discarded by his father for a second time hurt, despite everything.

"Fine," he growled. "If someone can show me the door, I'll be on my way out. Then you can start working on the real plan to stop that monster. Have a nice life, Fa—"

He stopped in mid word as the floor beneath him shook hard enough to almost send him stumbling. Again, it was no earthquake. The Angel was approaching.

"Damned creature. It must have realized we're here." Gendo said, then turned his attention back to Shinji. "You refuse to pilot?"

"Yes," Shinji answered flatly.

Immediately, Gendo turned to the bank of monitors next to him. "Fuyutski," he said, as one shifted to show his second in command. "Wake Rei."

The older man hesitated. "Can we use her?"

"She's not dead," Gendo answered flatly.

"Understood."

The image on the screen changed again, this time just displaying the words "Voice only."

"Yes?" a pained sounding female voice answered.

"Your spare is unusable," Gendo said. "You will do it again."

"Yes, sir."

Shinji didn't like where this was going at all. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice more tentative than he would have liked.

"Deploying the contingency you were so certain I have," Gendo answered.

"Reconfigure Unit One's systems to Rei and restart," Ritsuko ordered.

Before Shinji could say anything further, a pair of doors at the far end of the room slid open. His eyes widened at what he saw coming through.

A small group of medical technicians was pushing a hospital bed on wheels into the EVA cage, and on that bed lay a girl who looked roughly his age. She was wearing some kind of white, sleeveless garment, but it was the bandages that caught his attention. One of her eyes was covered by gauze and bandages, and several of her limbs were wrapped up. It was obvious that she was badly injured, yet her expression was utterly blank, as though she felt nothing about being forced to fight in her condition.

The girl's incredibly pale skin and her exposed eye, which was a deep red, briefly set off warning alarms in the ghost hunter's mind, but she didn't trigger his ghost sense.

The blue haired girl began to get up once she had been wheeled next to the EVA, and _now_ her face showed something, namely acute pain. Shinji looked up at his father in horror.

"Y-You can't," he stammered out.

"Your refusal to pilot makes this necessary," Gendo replied flatly.

Before Shinji could even try to _think_ of a reply to that, the floor shook again, much more violently than before. The injured girl fell off her hospital bed, landing roughly on the floor with a muted groan of pain, while Shinji himself fell to the ground as well.

Then, there was the distinctive sound of metal groaning from above. Shinji looked up just in time to see a group of overhead lights break off from the ceiling and go tumbling downwards.

Directly toward the injured girl.

"No!" Shinji screamed, leaping to his feet.

He sprinted toward the girl, his arm outstretched. He could save her. All he had to do was make her intangible, and the falling lights would pass through her harmlessly. Everyone would doubtlessly notice he'd done something supernatural, but he couldn't let the poor girl die. He had to get to her before she was crushed.

The spirit was willing, but his legs didn't seem like they'd be fast enough. He'd be just a tiny bit too late to save her…

Suddenly, there was a great splashing sound, and an enormous purple hand burst out of the pool of coolant Unit One was submerged in up to its chest, coming up just in time to shield the two teenagers from the falling debris.

_What the hell?_ Shinji wondered, bewildered, as he looked up at the hand.

Then he heard a quiet groan from the girl. Shinji immediately went down to his knees and cradled her battered form. He was aware of people talking nearby, but he ignored them, focusing on the poor girl. Shinji soon realized that his right hand was touching something wet and sticky, and he knew without having to check that it was blood.

"It's okay," he said softly. "I'll pilot. You can rest."

Her exposed eye turned to look up at him for a moment. Then, as he watched, it went out of focus and then slid closed as she fell into a hopefully painless sleep.

Shinji turned to look up at his father again. "I'll pilot," he said, more loudly this time. "I'll pilot the EVA."

* * *

The events of the minutes that followed were a crazed whirlwind for Shinji. He had at least four different people giving him advice and instructions that he couldn't possibly hope to keep track of as he was escorted over to something called an entry plug. About the only thing he did catch in this deluge of information was "wear these" as he was handed some sort of hair clips that he was told were called A-10 connectors.

Then he was ushered into the entry plug, which was a long cylinder of metal that had been painted white. There was a chair inside for him and he sat down, noting with curiously the very simple controls, which consisted of nothing but a pair of butterfly grips.

"Moving entry plug into position," he heard someone speak, and indeed, the thing did begin to move a moment later, invoking a wave of nausea within him.

There was a muffled thump, and then the movement of the plug stopped. Shinji was able to hear the sounds of machinery whirring and clanking around him, but he had little idea of what exactly was happening outside the plug.

Then he was able to hear the sound of a liquid being poured, and he looked down in alarm to see some kind of amber fluid flooding the floor of the entry plug.

"What is this?!" he demanded as the level of the liquid rapidly began to rise, understandably alarmed.

"It's LCL," Ritsuko's voice answered over plug's the radio. "Don't worry, once your lungs are filled with it, it will oxygenate your blood directly."

Shinji might have protested further, but the LCL rose above his mouth and nose at that point. Fighting his instincts, he forced himself to draw a breath.

The stuff smelled and tasted terrible, having the distinctive coppery tang of blood. However, Shinji found he was _not_ drowning, as part of him had been certain he would.

_Thank you so much for warning me about this in advance, Ritsuko,_ he thought acerbically, leaning his head back against the chair.

"Initiating second level contact," he heard one of the technicians announce over the radio.

Suddenly, the metallic interior of the plug was awash with a dizzying array of colors. Before Shinji could do more than register the spectacle, however, it ended, and he was suddenly able to see outside of the EVA, as if through a simple window, or more accurately, a cockpit.

"Bidirectional circuits are opened," he heard a technician announce, and suddenly Shinji felt the strangest sensation.

He could _feel_ the EVA, almost as if he was it, but at the same time, he was still aware of himself and his own body. In a way, it was almost like what he felt when he used his ghostly powers to overshadow people, yet at the same time it was different.

Next, the technicians began to remove the various heavy restraints that bound the EVA in place, which Shinji could actually feel happening via his strange link with EVA. He tapped his foot nervously as this whole process was carried out, doing his best to keep his anxiety under control.

What he was about to do was far different than ghost hunting, and it might well be even more dangerous, after all.

_Better you than that poor girl,_ he told himself. _There's no way she'd be able to fight. Besides, if worst comes to worst, you can always make the EVA intangible._

Using how powers on something so big would be difficult, but he believed he could do it. Of course, it would also reveal his unusual abilities even more surely than causing the lights to fall harmlessly through the girl would have, but what use was his secret if he was dead?

"The EVA is in position," a technician announced.

"Are you ready, Shinji?" Misato asked.

The question almost caused him to release a snort of laughter but he managed to stop himself. How could anyone be ready for something like this?

"No," he answered frankly, "but don't let that stop you."

There was a brief moment of hesitation, and Shinji suspected that Misato had found his answer to be rather disturbing. Then…

"EVA Unit One, launch!" Misato cried.

With a burst of electromagnetic energy, the huge engine of war went hurtling upwards. Shinji grimaced as he felt the force of acceleration pressing down on him, more powerful than anything he'd ever felt.

Then, after a mercifully short few seconds, Unit One emerged on the street level. There was an unpleasant jolt of inertia as it came to dead stop, but Shinji was too concerned with the massive form of the Angel that was striding toward him. Somehow, it looked even bigger than it had when it had nearly stepped on him earlier.

An utterly random thought suddenly invaded his mind. _If I die, a lot of ghosts out there are going to be pissed they didn't get to do it._

He suddenly had an image of several of his spectral foes invading NERV headquarters, looking to get back at his father for denying _them_ the chance to end Shinji Ikiryo. The thought amused him, and more importantly, it calmed him down just a bit.

"Shinji," he heard Ritsuko speak, "just think about walking for now."

"Right," he said, more to himself than to her. "Walk."

Unit One took a single, tentative step forward, then paused. Gritting his teeth in determination, Shinji willed the violet giant to step forward with the other foot now. For a second, he thought he was getting the hang of piloting the EVA.

Then it tripped. Shinji's eyes widened as he felt the horrible, inevitable sensation of losing his balance through his connection to the machine as it pitched forward. Desperate to avert his collision with the pavement, he sent Unit One's arms swinging wildly in an attempt to regain its balance, but it was no use. The purple colossus landed on the street with more than enough force to crack the pavement, and Shinji winced as he felt as though his own face was being scraped up by the impact.

"Shinji, are you all right?" Misato asked worriedly.

"You need to get up!" Ritsuko added urgently.

_Right away, Dr. All-He-Needs-To-Do-Is-Sit-In-The-Seat!_ Shinji thought sarcastically, even as he tried to comply, awkwardly maneuvering Unit One's arms about as he attempted to get the war machine to push itself up.

Yet the Angel had other plans. Walking up to the other giant, it reached down with one hand and grabbed hold of Unit One's head.

_Oh, crap,_ Shinji thought as his EVA was pulled upwards, until it hung like a rag doll with its feet dangling a few hundred yards above the ground.

As he watched, the Angel reached out with its free hand and grabbed hold of Unit One's left arm, then pulled it upwards in a position it wasn't quite meant to be in. The Angel's arms swelled obscenely, and intense pain suddenly went shooting through Shinji's own arm. He released a hiss of agony.

"No!" he growled as panic clawed at him. "_No!_"

With a stupendous effort, Shinji forced EVA to swing its free arm. The giant's armored fist crashed into the Angel's bony face with incredible force, cracking the ossified tissue. The Angel went staggering backwards, releasing its grip on Unit One as it did so.

"Yeah! That's the way!" Misato cheered over the radio.

Shinji, however, was a little too busy to feel warm and fuzzy in response to the encouragement. The moment Unit One's feet hit the asphalt of the street again, the giant was immediately off balance again. Desperately, Shinji sent the EVA's arms pin wheeling about as he struggled not to fall again. Amazingly, he managed to keep from falling again, but he had no idea how long this state of affairs might last.

_How the hell am I supposed to beat this thing if I can barely stand up without falling over?_ He wondered as he watched the Angel seem to regain its composure.

The answer that came to him was simplicity in itself, but he still got the feeling that it would go horribly wrong somehow.

Nevertheless, he sent Unit One surging forward, gracelessly tackling the Angel to the ground beneath EVA's massive weight. It could easily have been his imagination, but he swore he saw the eyes in the Angel's bony face widen in what might have been surprise.

He did his best to keep his enemy from getting a chance to recover, and began raining blows down upon the Angel in a frenzied assault, not letting up for an instant. For a moment, Shinji actually felt like he was in control of the conflict for the first time since it had begun.

However, he soon realized that his assault wasn't what he had been hoping to dish out. His total lack of fine control over the EVA meant that he was never striking the Angel in the same place twice. Not only that, but the punches he was directing at it didn't have anything resembling the power and ferocity that first one had possessed. Indeed, the assault he was directing at the Angel reminded him of the way a young, furious child might uselessly beat his fists against an adult's torso.

The ineffectiveness of his attack was confirmed when the Angel reached up with its left hand, once more grabbing hold of Unit One's head. Cursing under his breath, Shinji managed to grab hold of the Angel's forearm with EVA's right hand.

He was about to try and wrench the Angel's arm away when he suddenly felt a familiar cold chill sweep over him. Dimly, he heard a technician report that his body temperature had just dropped sharply. He instinctively exhaled through his mouth, and while the LCL he was submerged in prevented the usual cloud of steam, Shinji had no doubt that it was his ghost sense going off.

Unfortunately, it did so at the worst possible time. The Angel seized his moment of distraction, and a lance of energy shot out from its palm, impacting directly against Unit One's eye. Shinji threw back his head and screamed in agony, feeling for all the world like _he_ was the one being stabbed in the eye. The Angel didn't even perform the attack just once, either, but lashed out again and again.

_Turn intangible! Turn intangible! Turn intangible! Turn intangible! Turn intangible!_ He commanded himself frantically, but the intense pain prevented him from being able to actually do it.

Finally, after what felt like forever to Shinji, the Angel stopped, seemingly tired of piercing its foe in the eye. Dazed, Shinji slowly looked up…just in time to see the Angel's own eyes glowing ominously.

_Uh-oh…_

A blast of violet energy exploded forth, slamming right into Unit One. The giant war machine was flung backwards by the brilliant attack, which somehow grew arms as it expanded, taking on the distinctive shape of a cross. Eventually, Unit One crashed into a tall building, which it leaned heavily against, looking almost like a drunk man struggling to stay on his feet.

"Ugh," Shinji groaned, his head lolling from side to side.

He forced himself to look up, resisting the grogginess that was pulling him downwards like a lead weight. The display on the wall of his plug was flickering, with a little static further compromising the picture. However, he could easily make out the form of the Angel in the distance as it slowly approached him.

_Gotta get up,_ he told himself. _Gotta keep fighting. Gotta…_

Before he could complete the thought, his eyes slid shut, and Shinji Ikari knew no more.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I hate doing the first episode of the series, which is probably why I've mostly avoided it up until now. There's so little room to "maneuver" that it feels almost like painting by numbers, except with writing. Anyway, I've already got the basic plot for the next chapter planned out, and that one will diverge from canon much more, and we'll find out the identity of the ghost that set off Shinji's sixth sense at such a critical moment.

I'm doing my best to write a Shinji's who not as messed up and is already used to frightening and bizarre situations but is still Shinji. The scene where he confronts Gendo seemed like it would be better before I actually wrote it down, but if nothing else, at least it's a little bit original; though that scene has been done to death in fan fics, I can't immediately recall another one where Shinji points out the ridiculousness of the situation.

Also, the more I think on it, the further I'm drifting from the idea of Gendo being Vlad, but I still couldn't resist the opportunity to basically have Shinji call him a fruit loop.

Now, a few of you have been asking if/when Shinji's going to use his ghost powers in conjunction with EVA. While I would definitely be lying if I said I wasn't kicking ideas around in my head for Shinji to transform Unit One the same way Danny did the ecto-skeleton, I can definitely say it's not something we'll be seeing for a while, and it probably won't be used much.

00idiot, thanks for the info. I don't suppose you know that Shinto chant, or where I can find it easily?

Anyway, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers.

* * *

Omake

Crossovers with other Butch Hartman creations

Shinji looked from side to side as he entered the apartment, having the oddest feeling that someone was watching him. However, he saw no one, and so he shrugged it off, telling himself that he was just being silly.

And yet, when he went inside, the feeling persisted. It grew so bad that Shinji found himself looking inside of cabinets and things, searching for who or whatever it was he sensed was observing him. But he turned up nothing.

"I must be losing my mind," the boy groaned.

Finally, he decided that it was time for him to resort to his old standby, namely laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, and listening to music until he felt marginally better.

Walking down the hall, he slid the door to his room open…

And suddenly a pair of very small people exploded out of the closet. "HEY THERE!" they exclaimed.

"Waah!" Shinji exclaimed, recoiling in surprise as he regarded the two tiny people.

One of them was a man with green hair, while the other was a woman with pink hair. They both had wands and wings…and floaty crowny things.

"Wha…what are you?" Shinji stuttered out.

"We're glad you asked, Shinji!" the green haired man said. "I'm Cosmo!"

"And I'm Wanda!" the little pink haired woman added. "And we are…"

"YOUR FAIRY GODPARENTS!" they shouted in unison.

An enormous, lighted sign appeared from nowhere. It read "fairy godparents" and pointed at the two winged people, as though Shinji could have missed their shouting.

"So, whatdaya wanna do first, Shinji?" Cosmo asked eagerly. "What? What? What?"

Shinji didn't answer the fairy. Instead, his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out on the floor.

"Ya know," Wanda said as she and her husband looked down at Shinji's unconscious form, "somehow, I think this'll be a very different assignment than living with Timmy."

(A/N: This crossover could actually make for a pretty decent humor/crack fic, but with all the fics I'm already working on, I'm sure not going to do it. So if somebody wants to run with the idea, be my guest.)


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Strange New World, Part One of Three: New Home**

Shinji Ikari awoke all at once, abruptly going from a dead sleep to sitting bolt upright in bed. His body was covered in a cold sweat, he was panting heavily, and he ached all over, as though he'd just started a very strenuous exercise program…or been on the losing end of a seriously brutal fight.

_What happened?_ He wondered, shutting his eyes as he clutched as his throbbing head.

It started coming back to him slowly. He remembered the Angel, meeting Misato, coming to NERV, the EVA, that girl, agreeing to pilot and then…

Pain. That was the first thing that sprang to mind. Lots and lots of pain. Having trouble keeping his—or more accurately—Unit One's balance, and…something else. Something he knew to be significant but could not recall for the life of him. His memory of everything after he'd gone into the entry plug was badly jumbled.

_Okay, not getting the answer to that question right now,_ he decided. _Next problem: where am I?_

He looked around, taking in his surroundings for the first time since he'd woken up. He was in a very sparsely furnished room that was illuminated by pale blue light, which told him little. However, the green pajamas he had on and the smell of antiseptics screamed "hospital."

Slowly getting off the bed, his muscles protesting every movement, Shinji found a pair of slippers sitting on the floor nearby. He put them on and exited the room, the aches and pains he was experiencing mercifully starting to diminish after he took a few steps.

The hallway outside his room was empty and quiet, almost eerily so. Walking up to the windows, Shinji looked outside, and saw the interior of the Geofront outside. Presumably, he was still inside NERV headquarters.

The half ghost boy knew that he should probably be searching for someone to tell them that he was awake, and that he would like to get out of the hospital now, please. However, he allowed himself a long moment to just gaze outside, still amazed by the Geofront.

_How did they build something like this without anyone knowing about it?_ He wondered.

His musings were suddenly cut off by the sound of footsteps and a squeaky wheel. Shinji turned just in time to see a pair of orderlies round a corner and appear in the hallway, pushing a hospital bed. On that bed was a certain blue haired girl he'd met under less than pleasant circumstances the other day.

"Um, hello," he said awkwardly as she was pushed past him.

She didn't reply, and instead just looked at him impassively with her uncovered eye. He wondered if she was on some serious pain meds, or if she simply didn't feel any need to respond.

A moment later, the orderlies had turned a corner and she was gone. Shinji sighed softy.

"Not one of the best mornings I've ever had," he muttered to himself.

* * *

Meanwhile, above the Geofront, NERV had already turned the final resting place of the Third Angel into a hive of activity. What remained of its body had quickly started to decompose after it had self-destructed the previous night, but they were still out in force, trying to learn what they could about their enemies.

They were also picking up the pieces that had been broken off of Unit One in the battle. NERV had had to deploy a huge truck to retrieve the EVA's badly battered helmet, and sitting within that truck were the Operations Director and the Project-E Chairperson.

"Air conditioning has got to be humanity's greatest invention," Misato commented as she cranked up the AC. "It's a real triumph of science over nature."

Ritsuko, who'd been speaking on a cell phone, ignored Misato as she finished her call. "Shinji's awake," she announced upon hanging up.

Misato's expression immediately became more serious. "How is he?" she asked.

"He's fine," Ritsuko said. "His memory's pretty muddled, though."

Misato snapped her head to the side. "It couldn't be nerve contamination, could it?" she asked, a bit more sharply than she intended to.

"Relax, there's no reason to believe that," Ritsuko responded calmly, looking down a clipboard she was holding. "What I'm worried about is the way his body temperature just dropped like a rock right before the Angel started to let Unit One have it."

"Do you think that will be a problem?" Misato asked.

"I don't know," Ritsuko said frankly. "By itself it's not dangerous, so long as his body temperature doesn't stay so low for extended periods, but we can't be sure it's not indicative of something more serious. Neither Rei nor Asuka ever reacted to synchronization like that."

"I guess we'll just have to hope it was just some kind of weird fluke or quirk that won't happen again," Misato said.

Ritsuko just grunted in response, her mind already lost in the analysis of what data they'd managed to collect on the Third Angel.

* * *

_For someone who was so damned important yesterday, I sure don't seem to merit a whole lot of attention today,_ Shinji mused to himself, annoyed, as he pulled on his regular clothes.

It had been a considerable effort to even get his hands on the things he'd come into NERV with the previous day. So far as the hospital staff was concerned, he was just a burden that nobody knew who to pass off to.

Calling his father was something that obviously hadn't even crossed anyone's mind, and in truth, Shinji was grateful for that. There was some talk of calling Misato, though he felt pretty sure that someone of her position would have a lot of things to do the day after a battle like the one that had taken place last night.

Not content to just sit in the infirmary's waiting room and count the seconds as they passed by, Shinji decided to take advantage of the fact that nobody was paying him any real attention.

Rei Ayanami's room wasn't hard to find; while the NERV infirmary was stocked with all the modern equipment a physician could ask for and then some, there weren't actually that many patient rooms in the facility. He found the blue haired girl laying almost perfectly still in a hospital bed; if not for the sound of her breathing, he might have feared that she'd succumbed to her injuries.

Her exposed eye was the only thing that moved when he timidly knocked on the doorframe, announcing his presence.

"Um, hello," he said. "Would it be all right if I come in?"

She didn't respond for a long moment, and Shinji began to believe that she was seriously doped up on painkillers, as he'd suspected earlier. He was about to leave when she finally spoke.

"Yes." She said softly.

A little surprised, he slowly walked inside. Grabbing the room's sole chair, he pulled it next to her bed and sat down.

"So," he said, "how are you?"

He wanted to kick himself the moment the words were out of his mouth. The extensive bandages she was wrapped in made it exceedingly obvious that she was doing pretty poorly.

However, she didn't comment on the foolishness of his inquiry, if she even noticed it. "I am recovering," she said.

"Oh," Shinji replied, "that's good."

An awkward silence followed, and Shinji had to resist the urge to sigh. With the exception of the Kasuga twins, he'd never been good with people, and Rei Ayanami was certainly no exception.

It didn't help matters that she made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Her pale skin, as well as the unusual colors of her hair and eyes, instantly made him think "ghost", but she just wasn't setting off his sixth sense for them. Also, there was something about her that was maddeningly familiar, but he just couldn't draw the memory to the forefront of his mind.

_I seem to be dealing with a lot of that lately,_ he thought, recalling how Unit One had had the exact same effect on him.

Shaking his head and forcing himself back to the present, Shinji once again directed his attention to Rei. He wasn't sure why he'd gone to see her, except that maybe he'd hoped she'd explain some of the insanity he'd so recently endured to him.

And maybe he wanted a thank you for piloting EVA in her place. Was that so wrong?

"Is there, uh, anything I can do for you? Or get for you?" he offered.

"I have everything that is necessary," she replied.

"Oh, I see," he said, nervously scratching the back of his head. "Well, I guess I'll leave you to…recovering."

She didn't reply.

Shinji got up and started to make his way toward the door. However, he stopped and turned back to her before he left.

"I hope we can talk again sometime," he lied.

Again, she didn't reply.

* * *

About a half an hour later, Misato arrived at the infirmary waiting room and found Shinji sitting there, looking very bored.

"Hey, there," she said cheerfully.

He forced a weak smile. "Hello."

"So, what do you say we get out of here, find something eat, and then figure out what we'll do next?" she said.

He nodded, getting up and grabbing his duffel bag. "Sounds good to me, I'm starving."

The two of them made their way to an elevator, mercifully not getting lost this time. Shinji was about to ask Misato a question when the elevator _pinged_ and the doors opened.

Gendo Ikari stood in the car, standing as still as a sentinel. The Commander of NERV did not greet either the new EVA pilot or the Operations Director. The closest he came to acknowledging them was to stare silently down at his son.

Shinji hesitated, briefly looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Then his expression hardened, and he stepped inside the elevator. Misato followed, not without a small measure of reluctance. She felt almost as though she was returning to Antarctica, so cold had the atmosphere within the little elevator car abruptly become.

For the first several moments, the inside of the elevator was completely silent, save for the steady clicking of the floor counter. Shinji and Gendo both stared at the wall ahead of them, faces stony.

Then Shinji spoke up. "I'm not staying, you know."

"What?" Gendo asked, turning his head to look down at his son.

"I'll remain here until Ayanami's fit for duty again, then I'm going home," Shinji clarified, still pointedly keeping his gaze locked on the elevator door in front of him. "I still don't want any part in whatever game you're playing."

"I see," was all Gendo said.

Despite himself, Shinji could feel a surge of anger at his father's indifference, even though he knew he should be beyond caring about how _he_ felt about anything. Shinji unconsciously began to clench and unclench his right hand.

The elevator _pinged_ again, and the doors slid open. Gendo stepped out, exiting without a word.

The moment the doors swung closed again, Shinji let out what sounded like a cross between a gasp and a sigh to Misato, then he leaned against the side of the elevator car, suddenly looking drained.

_And here I thought I'd had a bad relationship with my father,_ she thought.

* * *

Gendo didn't bother getting a visitor's pass from the front desk of the NERV infirmary when he arrived, but the woman working at it certainly had no inclination to challenge him. One did not, after all, tell Caesar that there was any place in Rome that he could not go if he wished.

Moving with purposeful strides (the only kind he ever used, really), Gendo soon reached the room where the First Child was currently located.

"Hello, Rei," he said as he entered, not bothering to ask if he could come in first.

"Commander," she greeted in her usual, curt fashion.

"How are you?" he asked.

"I am recovering," Rei answered. "The doctors inform me that I should be on my feet again in one to three weeks, and fully healed in four to six weeks."

"That is good to hear," Gendo said. "Is there anything that you require?"

"No," Rei answered.

Had someone been watching this conversation play out, he could have been forgiven for suspecting that the entire thing had been scripted, given the speed and almost unnatural smoothness with which the dialogue between the two flowed. This person would have been incorrect, but not by much. The conversation wasn't scripted, but Gendo's visits to Rei had managed to become highly ritualized in the fairly short time she had been incapacitated.

In a way, it was very appropriate. Gendo could come in, show more concern for the First Child than he had for his son in years, and be on his way in under sixty seconds. Rei certainly didn't seem to mind.

Yet today, she felt the need to break from the norm.

"I have something to report," she stated.

Gendo arched an eyebrow. "Proceed."

"The Third Child came to visit me earlier," she said.

"Why?" Gendo asked.

"I do not know," she answered. "He asked me if there was anything he could do for me. I informed him that this was not necessary."

"I see," Gendo said. "Keep me informed."

"Yes, Commander."

And with that, he was gone.

* * *

Shinji Ikari had been surprised many times in his fairly short life, though the first time his father had abandoned him and finding himself with ghost powers still ranked at the top of the list of those times. However, the discovery that Misato had spontaneously decided to take him for the duration of his time in Tokyo-3 probably took the third spot.

"This was really nice of you, Misato," he said as her Renault exited one of the tunnels, emerging back on the surface of the city.

"You can stop thanking me, Shinji-kun," she replied cheerfully. "It's the least I can do."

_Really, it is,_ she added silently, her visage darkening for a moment. When she'd heard that NERV intended to just stick the boy in some room in the Geofront—essentially cramming him into a closet until they needed him again—she hadn't been able to stomach it. The child they'd drafted into service against the Angels and who had already suffered so much deserved better.

And maybe his presence could alleviate the often oppressive silence in her apartment, too.

"We'll have to go all out tonight, won't we?" Misato asked.

"Huh?"

"Well, we have to have a party to celebrate my new roommate, won't we?" she asked.

Shinji gave Misato a tentative smile in response, then lost his nerve and turned to look out the window at the setting sun. In truth, he wasn't entirely sure what he'd gotten into with these living arrangements (what kind of woman, he wondered, just randomly decided to take in a teenage boy half her age?). He'd actually been looking forward to living by himself for the duration of his stay in Tokyo-3; he could keep a living space without Uncle Ichigo clean and not have to stock the man's stupid ham and chocolate. However, Misato had clearly not been willing to take no for an answer when she'd announced that he'd be living with her.

_Well, whatever happens, Fumio's reaction will be worth it,_ Shinji thought with a small grin, picturing his friend with his jaw on the ground upon learning that Shinji was living with the woman from the photograph.

After a quick stop at a local grocery store, Misato announced that they were making a quick stop and refused to divulge any details about it, except that they were going someplace "really cool." Not an argumentative person by nature, Shinji just shrugged and contented himself to wait and find out what her plan was.

They soon arrived at an observation platform by the side of the road that overlooked the city. Climbing out of the car, Shinji cast his gaze out at the city below them, which was bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. It looked surprisingly flat, with no high rise buildings to speak of, save those that were obviously giant weapons turrets. It didn't look like people actually lived there.

"It's time," Misato said after checking her watch.

"Time for what?" Shinji asked.

She didn't answer, and before he could inquire again, he heard the sound of distant sirens coming from the city. Shinji turned…and his eyes widened at what he saw happening before him.

Buildings were rising out of the ground and ascending skyward, looking almost like they were growing. He suddenly remembered the structures that he'd seen hanging from the ceiling of the Geofront roof yesterday, and he realized that these had to be them. NERV possessed not only a Geofront, but an entire city that could seek refuge below the ground.

"Amazing," he breathed, almost as awed as he'd been when he'd first seen the Geofront.

Only a minute or two after they'd made their appearance above ground, the skyscrapers began to finish their ascent. There were several deep thuds that he could feel more than hear as some kind of heavy mechanisms locked the buildings into their current positions.

Moments later, lights began to come on inside the buildings, and just like that, Tokyo-3 was transformed from a desolate expanse of gray concrete into a living, modern city of metal and glass.

"This is Tokyo-3," Misato said. "A fortress city for Angel interception. This is our city."

Shinji turned to look at her, his eyebrows slightly raised. She knew he didn't intend to stay for very long.

"It's the city that you protected," Misato added with a smile.

Maybe it was just because she was so attractive, but somehow Shinji found himself smiling helplessly back at her. Taking him to watch this was an almost painfully transparent ploy on her part to get him to make his stay more permanent, and it wasn't going to work. Shinjuku-2 needed him more than this place; he seriously doubted that only he could pilot Unit One for some reason, but he was the only half ghost he knew about. And he really did want to get away from his father and whatever machinations the man had going as soon as possible.

But damned if watching the city transform hadn't been one of the coolest things he'd ever seen.

* * *

The sun had gone down entirely by the time they arrived at Misato's apartment building, which appeared to Shinji to be an orderly and largely unremarkable structure that didn't seem to have a whole lot of other residents. It reminded him of how a couple of women who'd been in the grocery store they'd shopped at earlier had commented to one another about how everyone was leaving the city.

_Looks like Tokyo-3 might be a ghost town,_ he thought, then smirked slightly.

"Looks like your luggage already came, Shinji-kun," Misato remarked, indicating a stack of boxes outside of what was apparently the door to her apartment.

Shinji's eyebrows went up. _He_ hadn't packed up his things from home, since he'd expected that he'd be returning to Shinjuku-2 after a stay of only days, at the longest. Father had clearly been planning on him staying, though, if he'd sent someone to his home to get his stuff.

He shrugged it off, once again promising himself to be gone like a bat out of hell as soon as Rei had recovered.

"Truth is, I only moved in recently, too," Misato said, unlocking and then opening the door. "Well, come on in."

"Thanks again for inviting me to stay with you," Shinji said.

"Oh, stop with the gratitude already. I already told you it's nothing," Misato said, and Shinji thought he detected an edge of annoyance beneath her cheery tone.

He stepped inside…and promptly did a double take at what he saw. She had trashed the place before she'd even finished unpacking; cardboard boxes were everywhere, competing for floor space with dozens of bags of garbage. Empty bottles and cans of liquor and beer were scattered all over the table and the countertops, and there were various car magazines—apparently the only nonessentials she'd bothered to unpack so far—everywhere.

Taking in the scene, Shinji almost felt like crying. _I am destined to live with total slobs forever,_ the neat freak decided. _What did I ever do to deserve such a curse?_

"Don't mind the mess," Misato said airily as she disappeared deeper into the apartment to change out of her NERV uniform. "Oh, and could you put the food in the fridge, please?"

"Sure," Shinji said with a small sigh.

Somehow, he wasn't very surprised when he discovered only beer, ice, and junk food inside Misato's refrigerator.

_Well, there's no pork or fudge. That's a plus, I guess,_ he thought, trying to force himself to be optimistic and not really succeeding as he put the recently purchased food away.

Just as he was finished, he heard the distinctive sound of a different refrigerator's motor starting. Curious, he turned to see another fridge at the other side of the kitchen. It was much larger than the one he was stocking with their recent purchases,.

He considered asking Misato about it, then decided that it either wasn't important, or that he probably didn't want to know.

_Maybe she just likes Korean cuisine and doesn't want the kimchi to stink up the rest of her food,_ he told himself without really believing it.

Misato emerged a couple of minutes later, now clad in a yellow tank top and _very_ brief denim shorts.

_Don't let the woman who just took you in catch you staring at her, don't let the woman who just took you in catch you staring at her,_ he silently chanted as she shoved several containers of instant food into her microwave.

A few minutes later, the two of them were seated at Misato's kitchen table, which Shinji had hurriedly cleaned while the food was heating. The purple haired woman cracked open a car of beer and chugged the contents in one go.

"YEEEE-HAAAAW!" she exclaimed as she was done, proceeding to crush the now empty can against her forehead. "That's the stuff!"

Shinji forced a chuckle at her antics, though part of him was actually rather aghast at how she'd just slammed that booze.

"So," he said awkwardly, trying to make conversation, "tell me about NERV."

Misato shrugged. "There's not much to tell really," she said. "For all the giant mecha and underground lairs, it's just a military and research compound for the most part. Or at least, it is as far as I've seen. Like I told you, I just moved her recently myself."

"Oh," Shinji replied, "okay."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Then Misato smirked as something occurred to her.

"There's one thing about NERV I bet you'd be interested in," she said, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"What?" Shinji asked.

"Well," Misato said, learning forward and lowering her voice to a conspiratorial tone, "according to rumors, the base is…haunted."

"Haunted?" the ghost hunter asked, his interest piqued.

"Yeah. People are hearing phantom footsteps all the time. I've had several different members of the staff tell me that they often feel like someone's hovering over them and looking over their shoulders, but they never see anyone when they look behind them," she said in her best creepy voice, then she smirked and leaned back in her chair. "But I guess this sort of thing must be pretty mundane for you."

"Huh? W-Why do you say that?" Shinji asked, suddenly feeling _very_ nervous.

"Well, you're from the 'most haunted town in Japan' aren't you?" she asked. "Tell me, ever seen the Ikiryo?"

Shinji damn near choked on his food at hearing this. The title "most haunted town in Japan" was a moniker given to Shinjuku-2 by the local government in a mostly unsuccessful bid to attract tourism to the suburb, and Shinji found it shocking enough that Misato knew about it. But that she had actually heard of _him_ boggled his mind. He knew that he'd made something of name for himself in his home town, but he'd never for a moment thought that word had spread so far.

Fortunately, he managed to recover before she could notice how stunned he was, and he started giving her his standard response to this sort of thing without even really thinking about it.

"Oh, all that's just a whole bunch of rumors that got out of control," he said. "Everyone thought the school was haunted a few years ago, and one rumor just built on another, and, well, that's how the whole thing with the Ikiryo and Shinjuku-2 being 'the most haunted town in Japan' started."

"What about that extremely localized, freak blizzard Shinjuku-2 had once?" Misato asked. "What caused that, if not something supernatural?"

Shinji shrugged. "I really don't know. I'm not a meteorologist, after all."

There was a brief pause.

Then Misato chuckled. "You know, you're an unusual boy, Shinji-kun," she commented.

"Huh?"

"I think most kids your age would have milked the whole 'coming from a haunted town' thing somehow, not dismissed it immediately," she said.

"Oh, well, um…" Shinji scratched the back of his head nervously.

His bashfulness caused the purple haired woman to smirk. "I think I'm going to enjoy having you here, Shinji-kun."

"Um, right," he muttered, looking down at his food, still making a point of avoiding eye contact.

He allowed Misato to power the conversation for the rest of the meal, just doing his best to keep himself from bringing it to a screeching halt, as he knew he was sometimes wont to do when the people he was conversing with weren't the Kasuga twins. Eventually, Misato suggested that he take a bath and then go to bed, and Shinji, who by this point felt like he was starting to fall asleep at the table, wasn't about to argue.

Finding the bathroom area in Misato's apartment with minimal difficulty, Shinji began to undress and slid the door open.

Just as a small arctic waterfowl was on his way out.

Shinji silently stared down at the penguin for several seconds. On the one hand, compared to ghosts, Evangelions, and Angels, a penguin was almost normal, and the one before him looked harmless enough.

On the other hand, hard experience had taught him that just because something was small and cute didn't mean that it was harmless. He _still_ cringed every time he thought about the damage he'd let that ghost dog do, all because its adorable appearance when it was in its puppy form had made him complacent.

He exhaled through his mouth, but his breath created no steam. Apparently, the penguin was no ghost, but just another in the long list of apparently harmless people and things in Tokyo-3 that had been getting the ghost hunter's hackles up recently.

"If I just let you go, will you be around tomorrow?" Shinji asked. "Or will I be insisting to Misato that I saw a penguin in the bathroom and looking completely insane?"

"Wark!"

"Oh, okay, carry on, then," he said.

* * *

About a half an hour later, Shinji was unrolling his futon in his new room, more than ready to pass out. Before he lay down, however, he went rummaging through the boxes with his things in them until he found an MP3 player. It had been a birthday present from the Kasuga twins, and he was relieved to find it still in good working order. Having gotten used to the newer technology, he had no desire to switch back to his old SDAT player.

Scrolling through various pieces of music which were mostly either classical or jazz (Kamiko, who had long ago given up trying to get him to like the horrible, horrible J-pop she tended to favor, liked to gripe that Shinji disliked on principle any music which was created in the current decade), he finally selected a play list of slow, soft songs he kept for the purpose of lulling him to sleep. Putting the ear buds in, Shinji lay down and closed his eyes.

A few minutes later, the door to his room slid open, revealing Misato's silhouette. The purple haired woman had intended to try and offer Shinji a kind word in exchange for his actions the previous day, and perhaps to try and persuade him to pilot permanently.

However, she found him already fast asleep on his futon. With a small smile, she slid the door shut again.

* * *

"You did what?" Fuyutski asked.

"I ordered Rei to get close to the Third Child," Gendo replied calmly. "To befriend him, essentially."

The two men were seated within Gendo's cavernous office. A go board sat on his desk. It was Fuyutski's move, but the older man had by now forgotten the game almost entirely as he stared and his former student.

"Don't you think that's a bit…reckless?" he asked, a tad too shocked by what he'd just learned to chose his words as carefully as he perhaps should have.

Fortunately, Gendo didn't seem perturbed by his subordinate's rather frank question. "It was a calculated risk," he said. "The Third Child cannot be allowed to leave. Not at this stage in the scenario, and not while he is the only one we're certain can pilot Unit One. After we receive Unit Two and the Second Child, and if the planned cross compatibility experiments are successful, he will be less essential."

"So you believe that he will change his mind about staying if he becomes attached to Rei?" Fuyutski asked.

"I am certain of it," Gendo replied. "His concern for her overcame his animosity for me last night. It will do so again. He will not be able to make himself leave her to face the Angels alone, regardless of his desire to spite me by departing as soon as possible."

Fuyutski grunted. He had no doubt that Gendo would get what he wanted and maneuver his son into staying, mostly because Gendo always got what he wanted. However, that wasn't what he was concerned about. Gendo clearly felt that getting Shinji to remain in Tokyo-3 was worth the risk that the boy might gain some level of influence over Rei. Fuyutski didn't agree, but the Commander had clearly made up his mind. Still, there was one more issue the Vice Commander felt he had to bring up.

"What if the two of them become…intimate?" he asked.

It wasn't a terribly far-fetched scenario to Fuyutski, even when keeping in mind that Rei was, well, Rei. Shinji _was_ a teenage boy, after all. It was entirely plausible that he'd want, and perhaps even expect, to start some kind of romantic relationship with the girl whose life he had undoubtedly saved by piloting Unit One in her place.

Of course, Fuyutski knew that Rei _wasn't_ Yui. She didn't even have enough of Yui's DNA to be considered a true clone of her.

But she did have Yui's face, and the thought of her and Yui's son engaging in _that_ kind of relationship honestly disturbed the old professor.

"That is irrelevant."

But apparently it didn't bother Gendo one iota.

Fuyutski allowed himself a small sigh and finally turned his attention back to the game board, moving one of his pieces. He was losing, as usual.

"He's not at all like we were expecting him to be, is he?" Fuyutski commented, almost on whim, causing Gendo's hand to stop halfway to the board.

"He is not," Gendo agreed. "I now believe it was a mistake to allow him to have friends." He added, giving Fuyutski a look.

They had kept a loose eye on Shinji over the years, always having suspected that Unit One might only ever activate for him. They'd been surprised when they'd discovered that after living a very lonely life for over half a decade in Shinjuku-2, he had abruptly made friends with a pair of the neighborhood children somehow.

Gendo had wanted to quietly part Shinji from his new companions, possibly by offering the parents of Shinji's friends very lucrative jobs at the NERV base in Tokyo-2. Fuyutski, however, had managed to convince him not to, pointing out that while an emotionally needy Shinji would be far easier for Gendo to manipulate, they also wanted him stable enough to be able to pilot EVA for some time without having a nervous breakdown.

It was a delicate balance, and apparently Fuyutski's advice had caused them to lean too far to one side.

"What's done is done," he said.

"True," Gendo conceded.

"So, what does this change?" Fuyutski asked.

"In the short term, adjustments will have to be made," Gendo answered. "In the long term? Absolutely nothing."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** What did I say about updating this thing, again? Eh, never mind.

I still didn't feel like I had a whole lot of freedom here, so there's not a whole lot of divergence from canon (that'll change by the time we reach part three, by the way). However, I did get to make some changes, the biggest of which was turning Shinji down a notch, as it were. He's still awkward around people, but he tries to connect with them. And his reluctance to accept Misato's apartment as his home is replaced with somewhat excessive (but not entirely sincere) expressions of gratitude.

And who's the ghost that haunts NERV headquarters? The same spook that ruined Shinji's first battle, or a different ghost all together? I'm not telling, so you'll just have to keep reading to find out.

So, as always, thanks to all my readers and reviewers.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Strange New World, Part Two of Three: New School**

An Angel had come to the city.

Striding through the streets of Tokyo-3, its lanky but enormous form stood taller than many of the high rise buildings which flanked it. Its size alone would have made it easily the most frightening thing around, even if one didn't know of the incredible destructive power it had at its fingertips.

Or at least, it would have been the most frightening thing around, if it wasn't for the purple and green colossus which also occupied the surface of the city at the moment. The great engine of death stalked through the artificial canyons created by the skyscraper-sized weapons turrets NERV had constructed, on the hunt.

"Where is it?" Shinji asked, needlessly speaking in hushed tones.

"Just fifty meters west of your position," Misato replied over the communications link, her image popping up on his HUD.

"Can I get some kind of map here?" Shinji asked. "I can't see it behind all the buildings."

Misato's image winked out and was replaced with an overhead map of the city. On it, Unit One was represented by a purple arrow, while the Angel was a large black dot. Shinji couldn't help but note that the thing looked a lot like the mini-maps that were common in real-time strategy games. It would do, though.

Holding his breath, he very carefully moved Unit One, taking great pains to keep it out of the Angel's line of sight. His control of EVA's motor functions had greatly improved since that first battle.

Finally, he was in position. After taking a deep breath to help him gather his nerve, knowing that in a few moments he'd probably be either victorious or a very small part of a very big stain, he struck.

Breaking from cover just enough to draw a bead on the Angel, Shinji made Unit One raise its pallet rifle. The Angel noticed the EVA immediately and moved to attack, but the Third Child had acquired a target lock before it could do so. Shinji squeezed the trigger present on one of his control yokes, and Unit One squeezed the trigger on the rifle with him.

Explosions blossomed across his enemy's front, and it collapsed to the ground, shattering asphalt and concrete beneath its great bulk. The Third Angel was dead.

For the seventh time that day.

"Very good, Shinji," Ritsuko chimed in, just as the Angel and the world around Unit One dissolved into black space with a grid of green lines covering it. "You're doing well with the melee combat training."

"Thanks," Shinji replied. "Hey, do you think you can make the Angel faster next time? It seems pretty slow to me."

"We can do that," Ritsuko confirmed. "We'll reprogram it before your next combat sim. You're done for the day, by the way."

"Roger," Shinji said, pulling the switch to eject his entry plug from Unit One.

In the control room where the simulations were being overseen, Misato watched as a robotic arm grabbed hold of Shinji's entry plug and removed it from the EVA. Her eyes held a look of approval in them.

"Looks like he's taking this seriously," Ritsuko commented.

"He should," Misato said. "He pretty much demanded training."

"Did he?" Ritsuko drawled, raising an eyebrow.

Misato nodded. "Said he wasn't fighting another Angel without knowing what he was doing," she said. "I can't say I blame him."

"He's got the right attitude for this, I guess," Ritsuko said.

Misato nodded. "If only we could convince him to stay."

"After his first night on the job, I don't think that's very likely to happen," Ritsuko commented.

Meanwhile, inside his entry plug, Shinji allowed himself a long yawn as he waited for the metal container he was stuck inside to be deposited somewhere that would allow him egress.

Before he'd started his training at NERV, he'd thought he knew what being busy meant. After all, he'd more than once had to deal with ghost attacks happening in Shinjuku-2 just as his teachers were putting his class through the ringer at school.

Yet, despite that, he had come to realize that he really hadn't known the _meaning_ of the word "busy" until recently.

For his first week in Tokyo-3, he had been enduring a grueling crash course in EVA piloting. He'd spent twelve hours a day at NERV headquarters, undergoing a variety of different training exercises. If he wasn't running combat sims like the one he'd just finished, he was being lectured about the AT field and EVA itself by Ritsuko or Maya. If he wasn't doing that, Misato was making him cram battlefield tactics and procedures into his brain, and if he wasn't doing _that_, he was being briefed on the various EVA-scale weapons NERV had at its disposal.

And, after he was finally done for the day at the base, he was given a map of the city that had the locations of the places where he could get an umbilical cable, retreat back beneath the surface, or pick up a weapon marked upon it, and told to memorize it. He'd also been told to review a tape of the first battle which he'd been given.

That last one disturbed him. He could, in a muddled, hazy sort of fashion, remember the battle, but the frenzied state that Unit One had gone into after taking a savage beating from the Angel, well, that just wasn't him.

So what was it?

He tried to put the question from his mind, telling himself he'd be gone fairly soon anyway.

When Misato had declared that she had enrolled him into the local middle school, and that he would now train only after class, Shinji had been relieved. Next to his training, school seemed like a vacation so far.

Not that he hadn't encountered some…unique and unfamiliar problems at school, but at least he had time to breathe there.

Eventually, the entry plug's hatch opened, allowing Shinji to get out and step onto a nearby catwalk. Stretching, he allowed himself another yawn and headed off to the locker room, already looking forward to a hot shower and then returning home and going to bed.

* * *

A few days later found Shinji knocking gently on the door to Misato's bedroom. When he got no response, he slid the door open, just enough for him to gaze inside. He couldn't help but wrinkle his nose slightly as he observed the state of the room; junk was scattered all over the floor, and there were still several unpacked boxes sitting around, along with several empty beer cans.

_Still not as big a slob as Uncle,_ Shinji decided. _At least I can actually keep the rest of this place clean while she lives here…of course, that I even bothered to find the time to do that proves every neat-freak joke Fumio ever made about me is true._

"Misato, it's morning," he said.

The large lump beneath Misato's blankets stirred slightly. "Um…I had night duty last night," her sleepy voice sounded out. "I don't have to work until tonight, so please let me sleep."

"Oh, okay, see you tonight, then," Shinji said, sliding the door shut and departing. In minutes, he had left the apartment, en route to his school.

However, Misato still didn't get to rest uninterrupted for very long. The phone in her room started to ring shortly after Shinji's departure, and she reached out and picked it up.

"Hello?" she muttered groggily.

"How's it going?" Ritsuko's voice replied. "How are you getting along with your boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend?" Misato echoed, her tired brain taking several seconds to make the connection. "Oh, you're talking about Shinji."

"Right," Ritsuko said. "How hung over are you right now?"

"Can it," Misato growled as she sat up, resigning herself to be awake. "I had a late night last night."

"I'll bet," Ritsuko said in teasing tone, "but seriously, how is the roommate thing working out?"

"All right," Misato said as she got to her feet. "Shinji seems like a nice boy. But…"

"But?" Ritsuko prompted.

"He's been in school for weeks now, and I don't think he's really made any friends," Misato said, slowly walking out of her bedroom.

"A loner, huh?" Ritsuko asked.

"I wouldn't go that far," Misato replied, opening the door to Shinji's room and walking in.

Shinji's personal living space was so neat that Misato found it almost eerie; to the rather slovenly woman, the extreme cleanliness made it look almost as though no one lived there.

Fortunately, there were a few personal touches that helped to dispel this image. A modest DVD collection sat on his desk. Misato took a moment to observe the titles, and saw that almost all of them were horror movies, either of Japanese creation or American made films that had been given subtitles. This struck her as more than a little odd, as Shinji really didn't seem like the type to be into that sort of thing. _Ghostbusters_ and _Ghostbusters II_, which were also there, looked far less out of place to her.

His MP3 player was also on the desk, and a cello sat on a stand in the corner of the room. Misato hadn't heard him play the instrument, but it looked well maintained.

Most significant to her mind was the cork board that Shinji had hung up on one of the walls. Several Polaroid's had been pinned onto it, and nearly all of them showed Shinji with a boy and a girl of roughly his age.

"He has friends back in his home town," Misato told Ritsuko. "I overheard him speaking to one of them with the cell phone I gave him."

"Really? Hear anything interesting?" Ritsuko asked.

"Well…"

* * *

_A few days ago…_

"I'm home," Misato said as she walked into the apartment.

There was no response, which caused her to frown; Shinji should be at home. Walking deeper into the apartment, she soon heard his voice coming from inside his room.

"Hey, Fumio, sorry it's taken me so long to do more than leave you and Kamiko a quick message," he said. "I've just been that busy."

Misato quietly inched closer to the door, her curiosity about her new ward overriding her regard for his privacy.

"Insanity!" Shinji exclaimed suddenly. "That's what I found here! I traded one brand of insanity for another, and I have to tell you, I liked the old one better!"

That caused Misato to frown slightly in confusion. Shinji made it sound like whatever he'd left at Shinjuku-2 was just as crazy as the situation he'd found himself in at Tokyo-3. But what could that small town possibly have that would even hold a candle to EVA piloting?

She eventually shrugged it off, deciding that normal teenage life could probably be fairly crazy. She didn't really know, though, having been catatonic for much of her teens.

"Well, first off, you know that woman in the picture that came with my father's letter?" Shinji asked. "I'm living with her."

There was a long moment when Misato couldn't hear any conversation, presumably because Shinji's friend was speaking. She actually heard her charge giggle briefly before he spoke again.

"It's pretty great. She's kind of a slob, but she's not nearly as bad as Uncle Ichigo," Shinji said. "And she's so _normal!_"

That caused Misato to raise an eyebrow. She had gathered from the few bits of information that Shinji had let slip about his uncle that the man was on the eccentric side, but still, she kept a pet penguin.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going to school here," Shinji said. "I'm actually popular at the school here. It's so _weird_!"

That caused Misato to smirk.

"Like I said in my message, even you wouldn't believe me if I told you," Shinji said, then continued after a brief pause. "All right, all right. Everything went crazy pretty much the second I got here. I see these jets approaching, and then this—hey!"

* * *

"NERV disconnected the line right then," Misato said. "He wasn't exactly happy to discover that his calls were being monitored."

"I'm sure most teenagers wouldn't be," Ritsuko replied. "How did he react when he found out that you personally had been eavesdropping?"

"Oh, please, I'm too good to get caught by a kid," Misato said, then, in a more serious tone, added, "but I am kind of worried about him. Like I said, I don't think he has any friends here."

"Some people just don't make friends easily," Ritsuko said, and Misato could practically hear the shrug. "If he's still bound and determined to leave once Rei is healed, he may just not want to go to the effort."

"Maybe," Misato conceded. "Look, Rits, I got home from a night shift not too long ago, and I need to sleep. Can I talk to you later?"

"Sure," Ritsuko replied. "Later."

* * *

Meanwhile, Shinji was just arriving at school. Practically the moment he stepped onto the grounds, another student rushed up to him, clutching what appeared to be a bright yellow lunchbox in his arms. "Yo, Ikari!"

"Um, hi," Shinji said awkwardly, recognizing the boy from seeing him around the school but not knowing his name.

Not bothering to introduce himself, the other boy thrust forward the lunchbox he was holding. "Ikari, do you think you could autograph this for me?"

"S-Sure," Shinji said, adding a slight chuckle on a nervous impulse.

He took the lunchbox—it had a picture of Voltron on it—along with the pen the other boy offered and signed it.

"Thanks, Ikari!" the other boy said enthusiastically before dashing off.

Shinji just shook his head. These sorts of incidents were becoming more and more rare as time went on, but still, having any level of celebrity was such an alien concept for him—at least, it was when he was in his human form.

He still couldn't get over the fact that Misato had heard of his alter ego.

Of course, as someone who'd kept a big secret for over three years now, he hadn't expected to have any trouble keeping his status as an EVA pilot quiet at school. However, there was one thing he hadn't foreseen.

* * *

_Weeks ago…_

Shinji found his way to his assigned classroom with relative ease, eager to start school, if only because it wasn't more training. As soon as he walked inside, a noticeable air of confusion manifested among the surprisingly small number of students present. It was obvious that they were wondering about the unfamiliar face.

A freckled girl with pig tails got up from her seat and approached him. "Can I help you?" she asked politely.

"Um, hopefully," Shinji said, holding out his transfer papers. "I'm new here."

"Ah, that's right," the girl said as she examined the papers, "you're the new transfer student. Well, welcome to our school. I'm Hikari Horaki, the class representative."

"Nice to meet you," Shinji said. "So, where do I sit?"

"You can take your pick. There are plenty of free desks," Hikari said, a detectable note of sadness in her voice.

With a nod, Shinji thanked her and picked a place near the back of the room. Sitting down, he contented himself to wait for class to start.

Somehow, even though he wasn't concentrating on something else, he didn't see her come in. He really should have, though. It wasn't as though there were so many ways into the classroom, or that she was so easy to miss. However, apparently he did manage to miss her, because all of sudden, he realized that Rei was standing right next to him.

He started, then quickly got up out of his chair. "Um, good morning, Ayanami," he greeted her. "I see you're back on your feet."

"Yes," she said, "I was just released this morning. How are you, Pilot Ikari?"

"Wait a minute…_Pilot_ Ikari?" spoke up a sandy haired boy in glasses before Shinji could come up with any sort of reply for Rei.

"Yes, Ikari is the designated pilot of EVA Unit One," Rei replied before Shinji could stop her.

The freckled boy's eyes widened. "You mean he's the pilot of that robot?!" he exclaimed, far more loudly than was necessary.

The next thing Shinji knew, he was mobbed by every student in the class, all of whom were throwing rapid fire questions about EVA at him. He blinked dumbly, stunned by the sudden attention, then groaned.

_This is going to be a very long day, _he thought.

* * *

_Present day…_

Trying to put recent events out of his mind, Shinji went to his classroom, where a handful of students were already loitering, many of them chatting with friends while they waited for class to start.

Shinji quickly located the girl responsible for making his pilot status public knowledge. Rei Ayanami was sitting at her desk, looking out the window. A few more of her bandages had disappeared recently, he was pleased to note, but she was still pretty wrapped up in them. It was obvious that she still had a lot of healing to do before she could be considered ready to pilot.

Part of him felt that he should be angry with her, or the very least seriously annoyed, because she'd exposed his secret. However, it just wasn't in his nature to hold a grudge, and it had been so obvious that she hadn't realized what the repercussions of her addressing to him as "Pilot Ikari" in public would be that he couldn't get mad at her, not even immediately after she'd done it.

Rei had become noticeably more receptive to him after he'd gone to visit her in the hospital, but he wouldn't really call them friends yet. Nevertheless, a combination of curiosity and compassion drove him to approach her again, as he had every morning since she'd accidentally outed him as an EVA pilot.

"Good morning, Ayanami," he greeted, walking up to her desk. "How are you?"

"I am well," she responded. "How are you, Pilot Ikari?"

"I'm fine," he replied.

There was a brief, uncomfortable pause.

"Well, I'll talk to you later," Shinji finally said, and hastily made a tactical retreat to his own desk.

_Man, I really suck at this,_ he mused as he sat down.

It had been the same thing every morning, and indeed, almost every time he spoke to Rei. Their brief, stilted conversations were becoming almost a ritual by now (and if he'd known how similar they were to the ones his father had had with Rei while she'd been confined to the NERV infirmary, Shinji would have been well and truly freaked out). He just couldn't seem to find a way to break the cycle and actually connect with her in some fashion.

If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Shinji would have admitted that he probably would have given up on this a while ago, were it not for his desire to know why Rei seemed so maddeningly familiar to him. She was the biggest enigma in a city that seemed to be full of them, and he wanted to solve the riddle she represented before he returned to Shinjuku-2, if nothing else.

Not that this was the _only_ reason he wanted to get close to her, though. He did feel a lot of genuine sympathy for her, both because she'd obviously been through some truly hellish experiences, and because it was clear that she didn't have any friends. He remembered only too well how empty and depressing such an existence could be.

_I wish I could ask Fumio and Kamiko about how to make friends with her,_ he mused. _They're both more social than I am._

Unfortunately, ever since he'd made the unpleasant discovery that NERV listened in on his calls, he'd become very reluctant to discuss anything of real relevance with them. He certainly wasn't going to ask them for advice on how to get on the other EVA pilot's good side while NERV eavesdropped.

_I definitely like being a ghost hunter more than being an EVA pilot,_ he thought. _It's so much simpler._

* * *

Unbeknownst to the brooding EVA pilot, a student who hadn't been in school for quite some time entered while he was lost in his thoughts. This returning student was a tall boy who was clad in a black track suit, casually flouting the school's dress code.

"Toji," Kensuke greeted him softly as he stalked into the classroom.

"Suzuhara," Hikari said politely.

Not immediately acknowledging either of them, Toji swung his school bag onto his desk, then looked around the sparsely populated classroom.

"Wow, what happened to everybody?" he asked.

"They've been evacuated, or transferred to other schools," Kensuke answered, toying with his trusty camcorder. "After all, nobody wants to stay after that last battle inside the city."

"Yeah, you're probably the only one who's actually enjoying the chance to see real war," Toji said, his tone rather grim.

"I guess so," Kensuke said, picking up his camera and peering at his friend through it. "So, where have you been, anyway? You were gone for so long. Did you get caught in the crossfire or something?" he added jokingly.

"My kid sister did," Toji said softly.

_Oh, shit_, Kensuke thought, lowering his camera.

"She was caught beneath some falling debris," Toji explained. "She's been in the hospital ever since, and because my pops and gramps have been stuck at work so much recently, if I'm not with her, she's all alone in the hospital."

Kensuke remained silent, having no idea what to say.

"Man, that robot's pilot was terrible!" Toji exclaimed suddenly. "What the hell's the point of our own guy ruining the city?!"

"Um, Toji, you know that the pilot's in our class," Kensuke spoke up.

"What?!" the jock sputtered.

"It's true," Kensuke said, gesturing toward Shinji. "Ayanami accidentally revealed that he was the pilot weeks ago."

Toji frowned. "Ayanami? What's she got to do with anything?" he asked.

"She's an EVA pilot, too," Kensuke explained. "It's why she disappears so often, apparently. But she's not the one who piloted the robot that killed the monster. Ikari was."

Kensuke prudently failed to mention that Shinji had been good enough to autograph one of the otaku's toy guns for him.

Toji stood up, intending to walk over to the EVA pilot. However, their elderly teacher chose that very moment to enter the classroom.

"Stand, bow, sit!" Hikari commanded, and everyone, including Toji, obeyed almost automatically.

Toji glared at the EVA pilot's back while the teacher started up his usual Second Impact lecture.

_Lunchtime, jerk,_ the jock vowed silently.

* * *

A few hours later, Shinji was stretching his stiff limbs as he walked outside the school building and into the sunshine of the yard outside, looking for some place to eat. He supposed that he could try and eat with Rei, but he could only imagine how awkward that would be, and the rumors that were likely to—

"Hey, new kid!"

Shinji turned around to see a larger boy he wasn't familiar with approaching him. The Third Child opened his mouth to make some kind of reply, but the other boy threw a punch at him before he could.

Using reflexes honed by three years of clashing with malevolent spirits, Shinji nimbly dodged the blow and retreated several steps away from his attacker.

_Hello, Yuuto Junior,_ he thought as he silently sized up the jock.

Shinji actually hadn't seen Yuuto in years. Though the bully had eventually recovered from his encounter with the specter of the vengeful teacher, his parents had decided to move elsewhere, believing Shinjuku-2 to be cursed or something. Others had taken on Yuuto's role as the tormentor of the freaky, ghost-obsessed man's nephew, but none of them had ever possessed the sheer level of malice that Yuuto had.

Looking into the dark eyes of the jock before him, and seeing the blatant desire to rearrange the EVA pilot's face shining in them, Shinji thought he might have finally stumbled upon Yuuto's true spiritual successor.

"Look," Shinji said, deciding to attempt to and talk his way out of this, even though he didn't have much hope that he'd succeed, "I don't—"

"Shut up!" the bigger boy exclaimed and lunged.

This time, Shinji wasn't _quite_ quick enough to escape the jock. The track suit clad boy managed to grab a handful of the smaller boy's shirt on this pass, and he pulled his intended victim toward him.

If he'd had time to think through what was about to happen next, Shinji probably would have just taken the punch.

However, when he saw the bigger boy's fist rushing toward him, he didn't think. Instead, he just acted, willing part of himself to become intangible.

The larger boy's fist flew straight through Shinji's face without slowing down, and this threw the jock off balance. Shinji immediately seized upon the opportunity this presented him with, and he quickly wrenched himself free of his new foe's grip, pushing the bigger boy hard and sending him tumbling to the ground in the process.

_Shouldn't have done that,_ Shinji chided himself. _Somebody could have noticed the intangibility._

Fortunately, everything had happened so fast that neither the jock nor Kensuke, who was their only observer, seemed to have noticed anything.

"What is your problem?!" Shinji demanded of the larger boy. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Your damned robot injured my kid sister," the jock snarled. "She's been in the hospital for weeks already, and they don't know if she'll ever make a full recovery."

Shinji's eyes widened, and the scowl he'd been wearing disappeared, replaced by a horrified expression.

"My god," he said softly, "I…I'm so sorry."

The words sounded pitifully inadequate to Shinji the moment he'd spoken them. The jock seemed to feel the same way about them; he glared sullenly up at the boy he'd intended to sock in the face on behalf of his sister.

For a long, tense moment, the two boys just stared at one another, neither one of them knowing what to do next.

The strange stand off might have lasted for the entire lunch period if it hadn't been broken by the appearance of Rei Ayanami.

"There has been an emergency call," she told Shinji. "We must report to headquarters."

"Right," Shinji agreed. "I'm coming. You go on ahead."

Nodding, Rei turned and ran off. Shinji hesitated for a moment, taking one last look at the boy whose sister had been hurt. Then he turned and dashed off, following Rei.

* * *

Miles away from the school, the command center within NERV headquarters was a buzz of nervous activity as they hurriedly prepared to meet the challenge that the rapidly approaching form of the Fourth Angel presented.

"The target has been sighted," Aoba announced. "It's already penetrated our territorial waters."

"All personnel, assume level one battle stations!" Fuyutski commanded, doing his damnedest not to look or sound as nervous as he felt.

Despite all the years he'd spent wearing a NERV uniform, the man knew he was still much more of an academic than a military man.

On the tier below the one Fuyutski currently occupied, orders were being rapidly given and acknowledged as everyone hastily ran through the checklist of things that needed to be done to convert the city to its combat configuration. There was noticeable tension in the air, which wasn't exactly surprising. Though they had done this "for real" once already, the Third Angel had given them significantly more notice.

Still, everyone present had practiced this procedure time and time again, and this part of NERV ran like a well oiled machine. Fuyutski was pleased and not a little relieved to see them performing so well thus far.

"Status of noncombatants and civilians?" Misato asked.

"We've already received reports that the evacuation has been completed," Aoba said.

"We're getting word from Section Two, now," Makoto spoke up. "The pilots are just arriving at the base. Shinji's on his way to the cage."

"Good," Misato said. "Have him board Unit One immediately and then stand by."

"The Angel's approaching the city limits," Aoba said. "Putting it up on the main screen."

The strategic map of the region vanished from the command center's largest monitor, being replaced with the image of the Fourth Angel as it glided silently toward Tokyo-3. This Angel resembled the Third not all; where the previous beast had been roughly humanoid in appearance, this one was long and slender, almost snakelike.

"The Fourth Angel would have to show up when Commander Ikari was away," Misato remarked.

"It's a lot sooner than we expected it," Makoto commented. "Last time we had a fifteen year break between Angels. Now, only three weeks."

"They never did care about our convenience. We'll just have to show them what we think about their manners," Misato commented sardonically.

* * *

There was a deep, dull thump that Shinji more felt than heard as the entry plug finished its descent into Unit One. Seconds later, LCL again began to fill the metallic container, but this time he expected it and inhaled it the moment it had risen above his nose and mouth. He found that the urge to vomit this action created was significantly less than it had been the first time he'd piloted.

"LCL electrified," he heard someone announce over the radio, and the amber liquid suddenly became perfectly transparent.

_Here I go again. Let's hope this time I manage not to hurt a little kid,_ he thought grimly.

"Shinji-kun," he heard Misato speak up over the radio, "are you ready to head out?"

"Well, I'm a lot closer to being ready than I was the first time I did this," he replied, which was about as close to a confirmation as he could give without being dishonest.

"Shinji, listen to me," Ritsuko spoke up. "Neutralize the enemy's AT field, then fire a volley from your rifle. Do just like you practiced, and you'll be fine."

"Right," he said, fervently hoping that the bottle blonde scientist was correct.

"Launch EVA!" Misato commanded.

With a flare of electromagnetic energy, the EVA catapult went off, and Unit One was sent hurtling upwards. Mere seconds later, the purple and green EVA had arrived inside of one of the lift buildings on the surface. Massive bolts thudded into places as the elevator was secured in its current position, and the front door of the building quickly began to open, making Shinji think of the world's largest garage.

"Deploying AT field," he reported as he willed the practically mystical barrier that the Angels and Evangelions were capable of generating into existence.

He suddenly noted the way his heart had started pounding in his chest and tried to will himself to calm down. It was silly, he told himself, to be so nervous. He had faced worse.

Probably.

Maybe.

_Make it quick and clean so nobody gets hurt,_ he thought, steeling his resolve.

Bringing up the overhead tactical display of the area on his HUD with a thought, Shinji realized that he was practically right on top of the Angel. With one last deep breath, he sent Unit One into action. The purple and green giant nimbly made its way out of the lift building, then turned, coming face to face with the Angel.

In Shinji's opinion, it looked like a giant purple slug that had assumed an upright position. The only thing that ruined this image were the…

_Oh dear god, are those __**laser tentacles**__?_ He wondered, just before the training that had been drilled into him for the past few weeks took over.

Unit One raised the pallet rifle it held in its armored hands and depressed the trigger. There was an _explosion_ of noise as shells that were normally fired by the heaviest of tanks burst forth from the muzzle at nearly two hundred rounds per second, forming a practically solid stream of metal death that went flying straight for the Fourth Angel.

Shinji's aim was true (though that wasn't saying all that much, as it was hard to miss a target as massive as the Fourth Angel, especially at the close range Unit One was firing from), and the bullets crashed into the front of the Angel with more than enough destructive firepower to annihilate anything built by human hands. There were great bursts of fire and smoke as the explosive rounds detonated on their intended target.

The Third Child didn't let up on his assault as the first several round impacted, a slightly maniacal look on his face. He was aware of the cacophony created by the reports of his oversized gun. He was aware of the spent shell casings crashing down by EVA's feet, shattering pavement and crushing cars beneath their weight. He was aware that he was squeezing the trigger too hard, and Unit One's finger was starting to ache.

But he didn't care. All that mattered was pumping enough death into the monster before him to kill it, so it wouldn't kill him.

It was Misato's voice that broke the spell.

"Baka! The Angel is covered in the smoke from the explosions!" he heard her shout at him over the radio.

Looking up, Shinji saw that she was right. He hadn't even realized that he was obscuring his enemy until that moment.

_Wow, finding out what happened to that guy's little sister must have messed with my head more than I thought,_ he decided. _Either that, or I've been paying _way_ to much attention to my training. They really should have put gun smoke into those damn simulations I've been going through._

Without really even giving it a lot of conscious thought, Shinji made Unit One take several steps back from the large cloud of black smoke he'd inadvertently created, knowing that it could hold either a dead Angel or a very pissed off Angel.

One of the Angel's whips of pink light suddenly lashed out from within the cloud, striking at Unit One's ankle.

It was only Shinji's well-honed reflexes that saved him. Without thinking about it, he moved the pallet rifle downwards, using it as an improvised shield, and the Angel's whip wrapped itself around the firearm instead of Unit One's leg.

Shinji's eyes widened when he saw the way the string of pink light sliced the rifle to pieces, the metal providing virtually no resistance to the Angel's destructive power. He immediately sent Unit One scurrying backwards, wanting to be well out of range of _those_ things.

"I'm sending you a spare rifle!" Misato said. "Take it!"

_Yeah, because the first one was so effective,_ Shinji thought, but he nevertheless got Unit One to the faux building where his new weapon was waiting and claimed it. Taking cover behind another building, he took aim at the Angel and fired a short burst from the new rifle, being cautious not to conceal his enemy this time.

Once again, the shells impacted against the Angel without any effect, and the damn thing was soon on him again, forcing him to retreat further away to stay out of range of those light whips.

Undeterred by its foe's constant retreating, the Angel advanced forward, preceded by its whips, which were flailing about crazily before it as it moved. The deadly streams of light slashed through a building, but for a moment, the structure seemed unharmed, making Shinji wonder if the Angel had missed it somehow.

Then the building abruptly collapsed into a pile of dust and rubble, which only made his desire to avoid the Angel's primary weapon intensify.

Stopping for a moment, Shinji fired another burst at the Angel, mostly because he lacked a better idea. Again, the Angel shrugged it off and kept pursuing him.

For the next few minutes, the EVA and the Angel played this game of cat and mouse across a section of the city. Unit One always kept at least a step ahead of the Angel, stopping periodically to fire a blast of impotent gunfire at it, and the Angel pursued the EVA, reducing to rubble whatever object was unfortunate enough to get into its path.

_City can't take much more of this,_ Shinji thought grimly, looking at the path of destruction the Angel had left in its wake.

The rather snakelike Angel was really pretty brilliant, he mused even as he made sure to keep Unit One out of its reach. The damn thing was too tough for ranged weapons to take out, and he didn't even want to _think_ about trying a melee attack on it, not with those whips.

_Come on, you've been fighting otherworldly horrors for years,_ he told himself. _You have to have some kind of move you can use here._

Unfortunately, most of his "moves" required invisibility, intangibility, flight, or some combination of the three. And he wasn't yet desperate enough to utilize his ghost powers while all of NERV was watching him.

_It's too bad, because just being invisible right now would be a big…_

Shinji's thought trailed off as the seed of an idea suddenly occurred to him. His mind's eye flashed back to the moment when the Angel had first lashed out at him. The horrible thing had still been engulfed in the cloud of smoke when it had attacked him, yet it had seemed to know exactly where he was, even though Unit One had backed up several steps moments beforehand.

Turning his full attention back to the Angel, Shinji looked closely at the thing's head, realizing for the first time that it had eye _spots_ on it, not actual eyes.

_Nothing that looks like an ear, either,_ he thought, _and it can't be feeling the vibrations from the ground, since it's hovering. How _does_ this thing perceive the world?_

On a hunch, he allowed the invisible barrier around Unit One to fall.

"Shinji-kun, why did you drop your AT field?" Misato demanded almost immediately.

"Because I have an idea," he replied. "Look at the Angel."

The huge beast, which had been tirelessly pursuing him at its slow, relentless pace, had stopped. Its head was turning from side to side, and it looked for all the world to be lost and confused.

"It locates me by sensing Unit One's AT field or something," he said. "I think I can sneak up on it if I wait until the last second to raise it again."

With a thought, Shinji commanded Unit One's left shoulder pylon to open, the grabbed hold of the progressive knife that was revealed. The blade buzzed malevolently as it came to life in the EVA's fist.

Just before he set out toward the Angel, Shinji hesitated.

"Hey, if you've got a better idea, I'm all ears here," he said.

Misato didn't make a reply, which Shinji took to mean that she didn't have another plan. Which was a pity, because he didn't really like his own all that much.

Setting EVA into motion, he sent it creeping toward the Angel with as much stealth as a giant mecha that was over seventy meter tall could hope to move with. He was pretty sure that the Angel was both deaf and blind in the conventional sense, but he didn't want to press his luck any more than necessary. Shinji used what few buildings remained in the area for cover, and, unconsciously, he held his breath. If it wasn't for the LCL oxygenating his blood directly, he would've been blue in the face by the time he was anywhere near the Angel.

Finally, after several agonizing moments, each of which felt like moments, he was behind the Angel and in striking distance. It still had no idea where the EVA had gone off to.

Or at least, it seemed like it didn't, Shinji mused grimly. The Angel might just be playing dumb, or it might not.

_This is either going to go perfectly or be an absolute disaster,_ he decided.

Unleashing a loud battle cry, Shinji made his move, simultaneously raising Unit One's AT field and lashing out with the progressive knife, aiming for the Angel's core.

There was a flare of orange life around the two giants as the pair of AT fields suddenly crashed into one another. The twin barriers rapidly eroded one another until they were no longer obstacles between the two beasts tearing one another to shreds.

But not before the Angel's field was able to deflect the knife slightly, causing the blade to plunge into the flesh mere meters away from the red core.

"Damn! I missed!" Shinji exclaimed.

The Angel released a high pitched shrieking sound that was laced with pain and rage. Before it could react further, Shinji wrapped Unit One's free arm around its body, pinning it in place.

With a hiss, the Angel began to writhe wildly in the EVA's grasp, and it was _strong_, maybe even stronger than Unit One. Clenching his teeth, Shinji hung on for dear life, pulling out the knife and again aiming for the red sphere at the center of the Angel's body.

With a growl, he thrust again with the knife, and this time the blade found the Angel's core. A shower of sparks erupted from the wound in the ruby organ.

Instantly, the Angel's attempts to escape Unit One's hold doubled in ferocity, and Shinji was barely able to keep from being thrown off at first. Soon, however, the monster's struggles began to weaken; it was dying.

But it was not ready to concede defeat. Its whips abruptly wrapped themselves around Unit One's wrist, and Shinji released a scream of agony, feeling as though a loop of white-hot barbed wire had been coiled around _his_ wrist. He looked down at his hand, expecting to see blood or some kind of wound there, but it looked perfectly undamaged within the glove of his plug suit.

The Angel seized upon its foe's moment of distraction and began to use its whips to slowly pull EVA's knife hand away from itself. The blade began to emerge from the core.

"No!" Shinji exclaimed, trying to push the weapon back into his enemy's weak point.

All he managed to do was slow the Angel's progress. It was just too strong, and in moments, the blade would be out.

Shinji immediately knew what he had to do.

"This is going to hurt so much," he lamented to no one in particular.

He threw Unit One forward, straddling the Angel from behind with the giant cyborg's legs. As he'd hoped, the Angel went sprawling forward, caught entirely off guard by the move. It crashed into the street, in what would have been a perfect face plant if it had _had_ a proper face.

And Unit One's hand, and the knife, were caught beneath it. The blade penetrated the core more deeply than it had before, driven up into the sphere by the weight of Unit One and the Angel itself. The Angel let out a final, earth shaking howl of pain, and then it went still and silent.

Shinji didn't really notice this, mostly because he was too busy screaming in agony. He brought his right hand up in front of his face, expecting his fingers to be irreparably mangled and broken, but everything looked fine.

Not entirely able to believe this, he kept staring at his hand for a long, long moment.

"Shinji? Shinji-kun? Are you all right?" he eventually became aware of Misato's increasingly frantic voice coming into his plug.

"Y-Yeah, I think so," he replied shakily.

"Good," she said clearly relived. "All our readings say that the Angel's dead, so you can return to base as soon as you're ready."

"Roger," he said.

"Oh, and Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"You did great."

He smiled tiredly. "Thanks."

* * *

Unbeknownst to Shinji and NERV, they weren't the only ones who had seen the battle unfold. Standing atop a grassy hill which contained one of the city's many shelters was a pair of boys who had slipped outside to watch the battle.

"That…was…_**awesome!**_" Kensuke exclaimed as he switched off his video camera, sounding like he could now die happy after what he'd just gotten to witness.

"Yeah, real awesome," Toji grumbled, glaring sullenly at Unit One's huge form as it found an EVA lift and began to sink back down beneath the surface. "Come on, Ken. Let's get back before anyone realizes we're gone."

* * *

For some reason, Shinji had not been expecting the greeting he received upon walking into the classroom the next day. The moment he was inside, nearly every student already present jumped to their feet and started applauding.

At first, Shinji responded to the standing ovation with an expression of dumb shock. Then he smiled bashfully, feeling himself blushing, and took a few awkward bows.

"You rock, Ikari!"

"Give us the play-by-play! How'd you kill it?"

"Are you free this Saturday?"

This last question came from a rather attractive girl that Shinji had not exchanged ten words with in the past. The whole thing gave him a rather heady, dizzy feeling, and, truth be told, it made him quite glad he'd never received this kind of adulation for being the Ikiryo.

Stuttering out a few It-was-nothing's and an I-was-just-doing-my-job, he wandered over to his desk and sat down, still feeling the gazes of his fans on him.

_So, so weird,_ he thought, trying not make eye contact with any of his admirers while he waited for the teacher to arrive and start class.

Unfortunately, his efforts caused him to make eye contact with someone else, namely the large boy in the track suit who'd tried to hit him the other day. The larger boy glared coldly at him, and Shinji quickly averted his gaze, feeling guilt stab at him anew.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I had a surprisingly hard time getting the scenes into what I felt was the proper order, and I'm still not sure this is the best layout. Some of the scenes have more punch this way; the one with Shinji in the simulator was more obviously practice in the original layout, for instance. Still, there are a lot more time skips, both backwards and forwards, than I would have liked. In the end, I couldn't figure out an order for the scenes that I was completely happy with, and eventually opted for this one. Such is life, I suppose.

There were also bits of this I felt I probably should have cut or changed, but that I just liked too much. I'm not sure Misato would really be as much of a snoop as I portrayed her, but it seemed like the best way to sort of draw a portrait of this Shinji to compare against the canon version. And I felt I could have deleted either of the two final scenes, but I thought Kensuke in full fan boy mode was funny, and I liked having Shinji be confronted with a new wave of adulation he has no idea what to do with.

Commander Galos, I try and picture Shinji as a prankster, and I just can't do it. Besides, almost every time Danny used his powers for that sort of thing, it came back and bit him on the ass later.

Anyway, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers. Oh, and sorry, but no omakes again. I've got a series of good ones planned out, but I want to wait until next chapter to start putting them up.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Strange New World, Part Three of Three: Old Enemies**

A splash echoed throughout the mostly empty pool room within the NERV recreation center as Shinji Ikari dove into the water. Soon breaking the surface, he took a deep breath and then began to swim toward the opposite end of the pool, relishing the feeling of the cool water surrounding him.

He had once been afraid of the water, but the rise in sea levels after Second Impact had made Shinjuku-2 a coastal town. There wasn't much of a beach to speak of there, but the local kids always made their way to the ocean on every vacation and most weekends so long as the weather was fair. The twins, amazed that he didn't know how to swim, had dragged Shinji out to the waves not long after they'd captured the ghost of Michi Kobayashi together and taught him.

At the time, he'd been extremely reluctant. Indeed, had he not been afraid of losing his new friends, he might have outright baulked at the idea. Now, however, he was grateful for it. Swimming was extremely relaxing to him, and the only things he enjoyed more were flying and maybe listening to his music.

And after the crash course on EVA piloting he'd endured, followed by the battle against the Fourth Angel, he felt like he was due for a little relaxation, which was why he was swimming the NERV pool instead of investigating the rumors that the facility was haunted.

_It's probably nothing to worry about,_ he thought as he swam back and forth from one side of the pool to the other without bothering to count the number of times he had done so. _Most likely either the rumors are just that, or the ghost isn't malicious._

He'd encountered a number of more or less benevolent spirits in his time as the Ikiryo. They tended to be the shadows of people who were just reluctant to move on for some reason or another. They could be creepy to the living souls around them, but since they were ultimately harmless, Shinji never saw a reason to capture any of them.

Of course, he wasn't swimming laps on in the NERV rec. center's pool rather than getting to work on his personal to-do list just because he was weary from his intense training and felt that the ghost which supposedly haunted the base could wait. There was something he really should get to that he was, in all honestly, pretty damn scared of doing.

_You know that the longer you put it off, the harder it'll be to do it, and the guiltier you'll feel,_ a familiar voice in his head nagged at him.

"Shut up, Kamiko," he grumbled as he surfaced and ceased his swimming.

"I did not say anything," a soft replied, startling him, "and my name is not Kamiko."

Turning, Shinji saw that Rei had entered the pool area while he was doing laps. The still heavily bandaged girl had removed her shoes and socks and was sitting on the edge of the pool, her feet dipped in the cool water.

"I wasn't talking to you, Ayanami," Shinji explained as he swam over to her.

Rei cast a quick glance around the room, which was empty save for the two of them, then raised a single, slim eyebrow very slightly.

It was a look that said more than words ever could and it was so…so _Rei_ that Shinji couldn't help but chuckle a little, which only got him another subtle expression of perplexity from the blue haired girl.

"Sorry," he said. "Anyway, have you ever heard advice from someone even if they're not there?"

"No," Rei answered. "That would be impossible."

"Well, I don't mean literally," Shinji elaborated, ignoring the feeling that he was probably just digging himself in deeper. "I mean, have you ever known someone so well that you knew exactly what they'd say you should do in a situation? And it's almost like you can hear them sometimes?"

Rei paused a moment to consider. "Yes."

Shinji smiled. "So, who's in your head? If you don't mind me asking, that is," he said.

"The Commander," Rei answered.

The smile slid off Shinji's face at once. "I see."

Though it did not show on Rei's typically placid face, the First Child felt a stab of frustration at this. Try as she might, she seemed unable to carry out the order the Commander had given her in regards to his son, even though Pilot Ikari seemed not unwilling to be in her presence.

So she was rather relieved when Shinji made an attempt to restart the conversation.

"Do you usually come to the pool often?" he asked.

"Yes," Rei replied truthfully. "I find the water to be agreeable."

Shinji almost suggested that they swim together when Rei was healed, but then he remembered that he'd be leaving when that happened. Not for the first time, he felt a twinge of guilt at the thought.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Why do you do it? Pilot EVA, I mean," he clarified. "Serve NERV."

"It is my bond," Rei answered.

"To who?"

"To all people," Rei replied.

"I see," Shinji said thoughtfully, considering the statement.

Shinji had some knowledge about the kind of things that could motivate a person (or at least, motivate him) to go off and perform dangerous, practically insane actions for the good of "all people." And much as he would like to say that the reason he went out time and time again as the Ikiryo to fight malicious ghosts was that he felt a need to protect everyone, the reality was much more complex.

Shinji was still, even almost four years after he'd gained his powers, very conscious of the fact that his uncle had built the Ghost Portal device and he himself had "kick started" it. So if someone was hurt—or even worse, killed—by a ghost that had come through said portal, then Shinji and his family were ultimately to blame for it, so far as he was concerned. He seriously didn't need that guilt, so he had to do everything he could to stop any malevolent spirits that got into the human world.

He was also aware that if he was ever to refuse to fight ghosts any longer for some reason, the twins would continue to combat the specters that showed up without him, regardless of how much more dangerous it would be for them without the aid of him and his ghost powers.

Of course, it wasn't that he didn't care about people; he certainly didn't want anyone to be hurt if he could prevent it, but it was hard to plunge into perilous combat for "the people" because "the people" were so damn abstract when you really got down to it. Shinji couldn't imagine being the Ikiryo for solely that reason, and so far, piloting EVA was proving itself at _least_ as dangerous and frightening as fighting ghosts.

"You know, you're very brave, Ayanami," he commented.

She didn't make a reply to this, not knowing what to say to it.

_If she can pilot EVA just because it's her 'bond' to people, then I can do what I know I have to do because it's right,_ he thought.

"I think it's time that I was brave, too," he decided, speaking more to himself than to her. "I'll see you later, Ayanami. There's something I have to before I lose the nerve."

* * *

Immediately after leaving NERV headquarters, Shinji found a florist's shop and purchased a small bouquet of daffodils, more out of a desire to postpone what he knew he had to do just a little bit longer than anything else. However, once he had the flowers in his hand, there was no putting it off any longer.

He headed to Tokyo-3 Memorial Hospital and walked up to the front desk, asking where he could find Mari Suzuhara's room. The receptionist was initially leery of allowing someone who wasn't family to visit her, but Shinji flashed his NERV ID card and that promptly got him a visitor's pass.

_Okay, just keep calm and don't freak out,_ he told himself. _She's just a little girl…a little girl who probably hates my guts for letting her get hurt as badly as she did._

It was insane, he mused, that someone who could fight and beat even the most frightening of ghosts could also be so afraid of a child, but there it was.

_She deserves an apology from you,_ he thought, even as he pace toward the girl's room slowed to a crawl. _And you know your conscience won't be clear until you give it to her._

Focusing his attention back on the world around him rather than the thoughts churning about in his mind, Shinji suddenly became aware of how silent it had become. The various noises one associated with hospitals—beeping machines, the footsteps of rushing orderlies and nurses, the TVs of the patients in their rooms—had all vanished, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

Then he felt a cold chill, as though a frigid winter wind had swept over him, and he exhaled a cloud of steam.

This was immediately followed by the sound of a little girl screaming from somewhere down the hall.

"Damn," Shinji hissed, dropping the flowers he held and taking a quick look around.

Seeing no one, he announced, "I'm going ghost!" to no in particular, then willed the transformation to happen.

The white rings of light appeared and swept over his form, changing the colors of his hair and eyes, making his skin paler, and bringing the black and white jumpsuit that always accompanied his ghost form into being. The garment had somehow grown along with him, thankfully.

Not that Shinji wasted any time musing on the properties of his costume. The Ikiryo immediately flew off in the direction of where the scream had come from, going intangible so he wouldn't have to waste time with mundane little things like opening doors.

He found the ghost almost immediately, and he gasped at the unpleasantly familiar sight of her.

"Spectra Kobayashi," Shinji Ikiryo whispered.

* * *

_Two years ago…_

This was bad, the twelve-year-old Shinji Ikiryo decided as he struggled futilely against the bonds keeping him in the hospital stretcher he was laying on. He'd known that something was seriously amiss when so many of the students at Shinjuku-2 Elementary had started to spontaneously develop uncontrollable ghost powers, but this was _not_ how he'd imagined things going when he'd infiltrated the hospital where all the afflicted students were being quarantined.

"Don't bother trying to get out of those, Ikiryo," a feminine voice that somehow managed to be simultaneously as smooth as butter and yet dripping with malice spoke. "Those restraints are ghost proof."

"Oh no," Shinji muttered. "Spectra?"

"Right in one, Ikiryo," the voice came again.

An inky black shape arose from the floor to loom over him, and Shinji couldn't help but gulp at seeing the true form of Spectra, a ghost who was strengthened by feeding off of human misery.

"What are you doing here?" Shinji demanded. "What is all this?!"

"Well, Ikiryo, after you _destroyed_ my old body the last time we met, I had to go about making myself a new one," Spectra explained, glaring down at him. "That's why I got all those kids brought down here; I'm going the use the best of their DNA to form my new outer shell."

"Why did you give them ghost powers?" Shinji asked.

"That's just a side effect of the process I used to make their DNA easier to harvest," Spectra said. "It had the added bonus of giving me an excuse to get them down here, and since the powers will eventually cause them all to burn out and turn into dead, withered husks, I won't have to worry about an army of Ikiryo knockoffs coming after me later."

"You're a monster," Shinji said horrified.

"But I make it look so _good_," Spectra purred. "And I'll make it look even better when my new body's complete! And all I need to finish it is one final ingredient."

The half ghost didn't even have to wonder at what that final ingredient could be.

"It's me, isn't it?" Shinji groaned.

"Yes, it is," Spectra said cheerfully. "With your powers added to mine, I'll be one of the most powerful ghosts in the world!"

Without further ado, she grabbed the stretcher he was on and wheeled it into an adjoining room that looked quite a lot like a padded cell, save for the bizarre thing on the ceiling.

_It looks like the head of a giant vacuum hose,_ he thought.

"Now, you just sit tight," Spectra said as she left the room.

_As if I had any other choice,_ he thought to himself as she left, slamming the heavy door on her way out.

A moment later, Shinji felt himself being pulled upwards by a gust of force and his eyes widened. _That thing _is_ the head of giant vacuum hose!_

Fortunately for Shinji, the stretcher he was on was pretty damn heavy. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite heavy enough. The wheels it was on rattled as the thing slowly began to rise up off the floor, and he knew he was done for.

"Well, I guess I had a good run," he muttered. Then he hesitated for a moment and rolled his eyes. "Who the heck am I kidding? I'm only twelve years old, and I haven't even gotten to kiss a girl yet!"

He began to struggle frantically against his bonds, but the restraints clearly were ghost proof like Spectra had said, and he couldn't break free. He was just about to give up when he heard it.

A horrible wailing sound suddenly filled his ears, and Shinji was shocked to see _another _ghost enter the room by flying up through the floor: the malevolent spirit of Michi Kobayashi.

He quickly got over his shock at seeing the first ghost he'd ever done battle with, however, as he realized it made sense that she'd come here. The vengeful former school teacher had probably been drawn to all the suffering children in the hospital, and then had sensed him, her old enemy.

And in coming to even the score, she inadvertently saved him.

Not weighed down by a heavy hospital stretcher like Shinji, Kobayashi was quickly pulled up by the suction of Spectra's giant vacuum. She disappeared into the large tube, screaming all the way. Moments later, the suction cut off.

And mere moments after _that_, the door to the room Shinji was trapped in was thrown open. This time, however, it wasn't Spectra, but the twins.

"Hey, guys," Shinji said while they quickly removed his restraints. "Good to know I can always count on you to show up right after the last minute."

"Huh?" the two made the same eloquent response in stereo.

"Come on," Shinji said, getting up, "I think Spectra's science project didn't go quite as planned."

The trio left the padded cell, returning to the room where Spectra had explained her plans to Shinji. Within it was a large black box, with a tube that Shinji instantly surmised to be from that crazy giant vacuum connected to the top. The box opened with a hiss, steam billowing from its interior.

After a moment, a ghost floated out.

She was dressed in a black and green outfit that left her midriff bare. Her incredibly pale skin was striking in contrast to the dark material. Her hair was as black as midnight, and was up in a way that made it look like a pair of horns. Her face would have been pretty if not for the undisguised look of malice that adorned it. And hovering about her head were two balls of bright red flame.

Looking down at herself in horror, the new hybrid entity looked up at the Ikiryo-gumi and shrieked, "What have you _done_ to me?!"

* * *

_The Present…_

Now that very same ghost loomed over a little girl who looked far too much like Toji to be anyone other than his little sister. The sight froze Shinji's heart.

"Get away from her!" the Ikiryo roared, firing blasts of green energy from both hands at Spectra.

Caught by surprise, the ghost was unable to dodge the attack at all, and she was thrown into a wall by the force of the attack. However, being two ghosts in one made Spectra Kobayashi far more powerful than the average spirit, and she had recovered and launched herself at Shinji almost immediately.

The half ghost wasn't to be taken off guard however, and he managed to grab hold of her wrists before she could strike him.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded through gritted teeth as they grappled.

"Are you kidding?" Spectra replied haughtily. "I came to this city the moment I learned a war was going to take place here. After all, it's always the children who suffer the most in war time." She added, with such a look of hunger in her eyes that Shinji shivered slightly.

"No, I mean what are you doing _here_? In this room? Ready to hurt this girl?" Shinji demanded.

"Why, I thought you'd realize that I just came to finish what I started," Spectra smirked.

Shinji's eyes widened as part of his first EVA battle came rushing back to him with great clarity, namely the part where his ghost sense had gone off at a critical moment and the fight had gone straight to hell.

"That was you?! You hurt this girl?!" he shouted.

"Making her trip and fall was simplicity in itself," Spectra gloated. "Neither she nor her brother noticed me. After that, the falling rubble did the rest of the work for me."

"You _bitch!_"

Both Shinji and Spectra turned to see a boy in a black track suit standing in the doorway of the hospital room.

_How long has he been there?_ Shinji wondered.

Before he could even think about posing the question to the jock, however, Shinji felt something strike him on the back of the head, and he cried out in pain.

_I forgot about her damn sidekick!_ He thought, even as his vision swam from the force of the blow.

He was not used to doing this without backup.

Spectra wasted no time seizing on the opening her companion had made for her, unleashing a blast of flame from the balls of fire that hovered by her head. Shinji cried out in pain as he was thrown across the room. He crashed into a wheeled table by Mari's hospital bed, knocking it and the cup of fruit juice that sat upon it over, then he was formally introduced to the wall he'd acquainted Spectra with only moments earlier.

The white rings appeared, and the battered half ghost reverted to his human form as he went sliding down the wall and passed out.

* * *

All in all, this was _not_ how he'd expected visiting his sister to go, Toji decided. Of course, how could he have expected to come in to find a kid with white hair defending Mari from some monstrous bitch who was so pale she made Ayanami look tan?

The white haired kid had been doing pretty well, until a green skinned figure who looked like a seven-foot-tall zombie in surgical scrubs had entered the room by flying straight _through_ the wall and then bashed the kid in the back of the head with one of the metal stands for those IV bags.

Yet the most surprising thing of all was what the white haired kid turned into once he passed out.

"Ikari?" Toji breathed, shocked at the sight of the boy who he'd tried to punch in the face not long ago.

"The Ikiryo is down," the zombie surgeon said, "would you like me to finish him off for you, Spectra?"

"No, Bertrand," Spectra decided. "The girl goes, first. I want to see the look on the Ikiryo's face when he wakes up and discovers what he failed to prevent."

"I'll take care of her, then," Bertrand said.

"Like hell you will, you freak!" Toji shouted, throwing himself at Bertrand.

Unfortunately, Bertrand was too quick for Toji and went intangible. The jock went right through him as though he was made of smoke and then crashed painfully to the floor. Yet his defiance in the face of the two creatures who meant his sister harm was unhampered by this; the jock immediately scurried to his feet and then got between Mari and the pair of ghosts.

"Oh, looks like someone wants to die first!" Spectra said. "Such enthusiasm should be rewarded, don't you think, Bertrand?"

"Indeed," Bertrand agreed, smiling wickedly and revealing yellow, pointed teeth.

"Brother," Mari hissed softly. "Run. Save yourself."

"No way," Toji said. "Either we both get out of this, or neither one of us does."

His oath thus spoken, Toji stood firm as he watched Bertrand raise the metal pole that was still clutched in the ghost's fist. Yet for all the jock's bravado, he could not confront death with eyes wide open, so he closed his eyes and waited for the blow.

But it never came.

"Brother," Mari breathed.

Toji opened his eyes, and saw, to his amazement, that _something_ had stopped the pair of ghosts in their tracks. Thin bolts of white energy crackled over both their forms, and they were nearly doubled over in obvious pain.

_Did I do this?_ Toji wondered.

"Rin!" Shinji shouted.

Toji's eyes snapped over to the Shinji, who was still sitting slumped against the wall. The boy who'd been something not quite human only moments ago had drawn something on the floor with Mari's spilled fruit juice.

"Pyou!" Shinji yelled. "Tou! Sha!"

With each word, the tongues of energy that crackled over the two ghosts grew more intense, as did the pain they were experiencing, if their cries of pain were any indication.

"Kai! Jin!" Shinji continued. "Retsu!"

With a visible effort, Spectra straightened and glared down at Shinji. "This isn't over," she vowed through gritted teeth. "We'll just find a new target!"

With that, she grabbed Bertrand and flew toward the window. Both of them passed through the glass as though it was not there, and they escaped into the open air outside the hospital.

"Damn," Shinji said and began to struggle to get up.

Toji was almost immediately at his side, helping him to stand. "You okay, man?" he asked.

"Fine. I've had worse," Shinji said as he made it to his feet, then went over to the window. "Damn, they disappeared."

"Are you thinking of going after them?" Toji asked, a little amazed.

"Considering her latest MO seems to be injuring young children with older siblings to make them both miserable, and that she mentioned finding a new target?" Shinji asked. "Yeah, that was the plan."

Toji gasped softly as something suddenly occurred to him. "The class rep lives just a couple of blocks from the hospital, and she's got a sister about Mari's age."

"Crap," Shinji cursed. "You have to show me where she lives, right now."

Toji nodded, then turned to his sister. "We need to go take care of those…things," he told her. "You just sit tight, Mari-chan."

"Like I have a choice," the little girl said sarcastically.

She gestured to her lower body which, Shinji noticed for the first time, was almost entirely encased in a plaster cast. He winced, feeling a pang of guilt, but far more anger at Spectra.

"Um, hey, this probably goes without saying, but please don't tell anyone about me," Shinji said to Mari.

"My lips are sealed," she promised with a smile, then made a zipping motion over her mouth.

Nodding, he gave her a grateful smile and then turned to Toji. "Let's go."

* * *

Working in the kitchen, Hikari hummed cheerfully to herself as she went about the task of making dinner for her family. The job of being the family homemaker in her mother's absence was often a difficult one, but things were going quite well lately. The Horaki family was having little difficulty so far in dealing with the conflicts that had been turning the city into a battlefield recently, and Hikari for once felt like she was completely on top of all her various duties.

A loud knock at the front door of her home interrupted her pleasant musings, and she put down the knife she'd been using to chop vegetables with a small sigh of annoyance.

"I'm coming!" she called as she made her way to the door, where the knocking continued unabated.

She was more than a little surprised when she opened the door and found Toji standing there, panting with exertion and looking rather frantic.

"Suzuhara?" she asked, blinking.

"Class rep," Toji said, "is your sister here?"

Now, Hikari was very mature for her years. The great responsibilities she'd taken on after her mother had passed away had made this so. Yet despite that, she was still a teenage girl, and upon seeing that the boy she secretly had a crush on had come to her house out of the blue, she'd immediately begun to hope that his reasons for calling upon her were romantic in nature. When the first words out of his mouth were an inquiry about her sister…

"Kodama's not here, you jerk," Hikari snapped.

Toji blinked, not having the slightest idea why the class rep had just assumed that she knew which sister he was asking about. Or why she seemed so pissed off at him all of sudden, for that matter.

"Uh, Kodama's your older sister, right?" he asked. "I was talking about your younger sister."

"What do you want with Nozomi?!" Hikari demanded, her ire only rising further at his clarification.

"I think she could be in danger," Toji explained.

Hikari frowned, and uncertainty and fear began to eat away at her anger. "What? What are you talking about?" she asked. "Suzuhara, if this is some kind of stupid joke, then so help me—"

She was cut off by the sound of Nozomi screaming from upstairs.

Eyes widening, Hikari was about to sprint up the steps and make for her sister's room. However, before she could spring into action, she saw two figures plummet right past the kitchen window, and heard them land on the ground outside with a muffled thud.

"I won't let you hurt her!" she heard a male voice shout.

Toji immediately rushed outside to observe what was happening. Hikari hesitated, but then she saw Nozomi coming down the steps, looking perfectly unharmed, if badly rattled.

"Stay here!" Hikari commanded, then rushed outside to try and figure out what in the world was going on.

Right in front of her home, two people were fighting a furious struggle. This in itself was a strange enough sight, but what made it even more bizarre were the two combatants. One of them was a boy wearing a black and white jumpsuit who looked about her age, but he had hair as white as snow. The other was a pale woman who looked like she'd come out of some low-budget horror movie.

That they were both flying, that the boy was shooting bursts of green energy from his hands, and that the woman was unleashing blasts of bright red flames from the spheres of it that hung by her head, only made the whole situation _that_ much more unbelievable.

"You never could let me have any fun, could you, Ikiryo?" the woman spat.

"Your idea of fun is _hurting small children!_" the boy responded. "So, no, I can't let you have any fun, not so long as I can stop it."

"Funny you should put it that way," the woman smirked. "Because…"

"You're still outnumbered!" someone growled in a deep, gravelly voice, this one male.

All of sudden, a huge, green skinned figure in surgical scrubs appeared, wielding a scalpel so gigantic that it could have easily doubled as an ax. With a roar, the monstrous apparition swung the huge blade in a wide arc, clearly intending to cleave the Ikiryo in two.

Yet before the terrible blade could connect, the horrible being in surgeon's clothes was struck with a beam of green light and sent flying backwards. He crashed against the side of the Horaki residence with enough force to rattle the windows, and then, to Hikari's surprise, he began to change. The green, hulking parody of a man of medicine rapidly started to shrink, and his features became more normal. In seconds, he had turned into a short, stout man with a bald head and a neat, gray mustache.

"Oh, bother," he said, his suddenly cultured sounding voice now having a faint British accent to it.

Fighting to keep her brain from just shifting into neutral and just shutting down, Hikari looked around in search of the source of the attack that had just forced the monster to change into what looked like a butler.

It wasn't a long search. Floating in the air several feet above the ground was what looked like the Ikiryo's twin brother.

"Hey, Spectra, look who's outnumbered now!" the new boy taunted.

Spectra released a growl of pure rage and frustration, and the two orbs of flame that hovered by her head suddenly flared. "All right, Ikiryo, time to turn up the heat!"

Each of the floating fireballs unleashed a tongue of flame, each one heading for one of the Ikiryo's. They both dodged easily, and their hands began to glow with a blue light.

"Geeze, Spectra…" one of them said.

"…chill out!" the second finished, just as they both sent blasts of blue light shooting at her.

The dark haired woman took to the air, trying to dodge, but there were just too many attacks for her to avoid. One of the beams caught her in the leg, and the limb was almost instantly encased in ice. She let out a cry of pain, and the two boys immediately took advantage of her moment of distress, correcting the trajectories of the other three beams. Within moments, the woman was completely trapped within a huge chunk of ice. Even the spheres of fire appeared to have been frozen.

The block of ice fell to the ground with a dull thump, and then everything was silent, almost eerily so.

"What…? Who…?" Hikari stuttered, taking a step toward the frozen woman.

"Stay back," one of the white haired boys commanded her sharply.

"You don't actually expect her to bust out of that, do you?" Toji asked, half incredulous and half afraid.

As if in answer, the block of ice that held Spectra captive began to tremble and a great crack suddenly formed down the length of it. Hikari instinctively retreated a few paces.

And then the ice shattered, pieces of it flying everywhere. The class rep and the jock both instinctively raised their arms to shield their heads, but there was no need for that. The potentially deadly shards of ice all dissolved into blue smoke before they could touch anything.

"All right, that's it!" Spectra snarled, great plumes of white steam rising off her body. "Now you've gone and made me _angry!_"

"Oh, _that's_ not good," one of her foes commented.

"You're _ugly_ when you're angry," the other added.

With a wordless scream of rage, Spectra lunged at the boy that was nearest to her. However, she was in a such a blind fury that her attacks had become careless, uncalculated things. Her target easily avoided her, and the "twins" quickly went in for a counterattack, flying toward her.

Despite what that horrible woman thing had tried to do to Nozomi, Hikari couldn't help but wince in involuntary sympathy as both of the boys punched her in the face at exactly the same time, each fist striking from the opposite direction so that her head couldn't snap to either side and thus had to absorb the entire force of both blows. The class rep was surprised that she didn't hear bones breaking.

Yet, shattered mandible or no, the woman was clearly sent reeling by the blows, and the two boys capitalized on it, unleashed green blasts of energy from their hands. Spectra was sent flying, and she, too, crashed into Hikari's home, landing right next to her accomplice.

To Hikari's surprise, Spectra began to get up almost immediately, despite the ferocity of the attack she'd just endured. However, it was obvious that she had not been left unscathed. Her pale flesh looked to have cracked in several places, giving the pale woman the appearance of a grotesque and broken porcelain doll. However, no blood oozed from the wounds. Instead, the cracks revealed inky darkness, as though Spectra was just a shadow clad in a facsimile of human flesh.

"I'll kill you," Spectra growled, glaring daggers at the two Ikiryo's.

"Not today," one of them replied.

"You're falling apart, Spectra," the other added.

Spectra looked down at her arms, seeing the fissures in her skin, and she winced. Glaring daggers at the two boys, she reached out blindly and placed a hand on her accomplice's still unconscious form.

And with that, she and the little, butler-ish man vanished from view.

Another heavy silence came then, this one more amazed than eerie. It dragged on for a few seconds, then one of the Ikiryo's turned to the two stunned teenagers who'd witnessed the battle. He gave them a casual little salute, and then both the white haired boys flew off, vanishing from sight mere seconds later.

Several _more_ seconds of silence followed after this.

"Suzuhara," Hikari finally spoke, "what the _hell_ just happened?"

Toji turned to look at the class rep and blinked. For a moment, he was too shocked at hearing her curse to even process her question.

Then his brain caught up, and he realized what she'd just asked. He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "Uh…"

* * *

The first thing Shinji did once he was invisible was to reabsorb his duplicate. Then he began to scout about the city, looking for a place to change back. However, for several minutes, he failed to locate one, mostly because he was too busy berating himself to search very intently.

_That was damn stupid not to be watching my back,_ he thought. _I totally forgot that Fumio and Kamiko weren't there to do it for me._

If it hadn't turned out that he'd actually managed to pick up some of Fumio's brand of ghost hunting over the years, well, Spectra might well have killed him this time, and Mari Suzuhara, too.

And how the hell had Spectra prevented nurses and orderlies from flooding that hospital room when Mari had screamed? He'd have to go back to the hospital soon and make sure she hadn't hurt anyone in order to ensure that no one ruined her moment with her intended victim.

Shaking his head and putting these grim thoughts from his mind in favor of more immediate concerns, he finally he managed to locate a convenient alley, and he flew down there, first becoming visible again and then shifting back to human form.

Once Shinji Ikiryo had become Shinji Ikari once more, he stepped out onto the street. As luck would have it, there was a pay phone nearby. He went up to it and began to feed coins into the slot.

_If people from Section Two were following me, they had to have lost me back at the hospital,_ he thought. _And I doubt that even NERV monitors every single call made in the city._

Punching in one of the few telephone numbers he knew by heart, the Third Child held the receiver to his ear and waited. After two rings, someone picked up.

"Y'ello," a familiar voice spoke, "you have reached Fumio Kasuga's house of love. If you are a hot babe…"

"Fumio, knock it off," the EVA pilot interrupted.

"Shinji?" Fumio said, dropping the jocular tone. "Wow, we haven't heard from you since big brother cut us off last time. What's up? You sound kinda…tense."

"I'm calling from a pay phone, so we should be able to talk freely," Shinji said. "Fumio, I need you to ship me a thermos."

"Why?" Fumio asked, now completely serious.

"Spectra's in town," Shinji answered.

He heard his best friend hiss, and he didn't have to ask why. Spectra had once plotted to murder Kamiko in order to increase the level of misery in Shinjuku-2, and Fumio had held a special type of loathing for the ghost ever since. He had actually fought and beaten Spectra all by himself once, seemingly powered by nothing but the animosity he had for her.

"Damn," Fumio said. "Why?"

"She said she was attracted by the war," Shinji answered. "Saw a lot of opportunity to create misery. She already caused a little girl to be badly injured."

"Damn," Fumio said again, more vehemently this time. "I'll ship you a thermos by overnight express, if you want, but how do you know that it won't get seized, or at least examined too closely? If your calls are being monitored…"

"I recently snuck out and rented a post office box," Shinji said. "I'll give you the number for it, and you can send it there."

"Why'd you rent a PO box?" Fumio asked, confused.

"I wanted to ask you to send me a pair of the Ikari-phones, so we could talk without someone listening in, or without me having to sneak off to a pay phone, like now," Shinji said. "Speaking of which, it would be good if you could include those with the thermos. And throw in a few anti-ghost weapons. I'll pay you back for the cost of shipping."

"Uh, sure," Fumio said, "but why do you want the ghost weapons?"

"The brother of the little girl who Spectra hurt saw me when I changed back to my human form after she threw me into a wall," Shinji explained. "Somehow I get the feeling he's going to want in when it comes time to trap Spectra."

"Why, Shinji, are building yourself a new Ikiryo-gumi?" Fumio asked, his voice filled with mock anguish. "Are you replacing us?"

Shinji chuckled. "I couldn't replace you two if I wanted to," he said. "You know that."

"Thanks," Fumio said. "Anyway, I'll have all the stuff in the mail by the end of the day, at the latest. Promise."

"Thanks, Fumio. You're a life saver," he said.

Shinji was about to say something else, but he happened to look up at that moment and spied Toji approaching him, to his surprise. Either he'd gone in a very straight line after leaving the Horaki residence, or the jock had gotten very lucky while looking for him.

"Look, I gotta go," Shinji said. "I promise we'll talk more and I'll give you and Kamiko the complete run down on everything that's been happening once I get the 'phones, okay?"

"We'll hold you to that," Fumio said. "Later."

"Later," Shinji replied, hanging up.

The Third Child squirmed awkwardly in place as he watched the jock draw nearer, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the whole, very strange situation, even though he was pretty sure no more animosity existed between them.

"Um, hi," Shinji said.

"Thanks for leaving me to handle explaining things to the class rep," Toji grumbled.

Shinji chuckled nervously. "S-Sorry, about that. Force of habit, I guess. You didn't tell her who I am, did you?"

Toji shook his head. "Of course not," he said. "But…who was that other guy? The one that looked just like you? You got a twin brother or something?"

"That was also me. I can use my ghost powers to duplicate myself," Shinji explained. "I can show you, if you like." He added, hooking a thumb toward the nearby alley.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm not sure I could take it right now," Toji said, then hesitated, taking a moment to gather himself. "So, you're the Ikiryo, huh?"

Shinji nodded. "Yeah," he said. "Please, don't tell anyone."

Toji smirked slightly, but he quickly grew serious again and looked away, seemingly unable to meet Shinji's eyes. "I tried to pound you for something you weren't even really responsible for a couple of days ago, and today you saved my sister's life," he said, staring at the ground.

"Look, it's possible, maybe even probable, that you or your sister would have gotten hurt even if Spectra hadn't interfered, because I honestly had no damned idea what I was doing in that first battle," Shinji said. "And the ghost fighting thing is just…what I do."

"Ghosts," Toji repeated. "So that bitch Spectra was a ghost, then?"

"She's actually two ghosts merged into one," Shinji said. "One of them hated schoolchildren, and the other fed off of human misery. Now she likes to feed off the misery of kids, specifically."

"Damn. You fight monsters like that all the time?" Toji asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Spectra's definitely one of the worst," Shinji answered.

A rather awkward silence followed.

Which Toji broke after a few seconds by blurting out a question. "Why were you in the hospital, anyway?"

"I wanted to visit your sister and apologize to her," Shinji answered. "It was just dumb luck that I happened to be around when Spectra showed up."

The knowledge that Shinji had felt guilty enough to visit Mari in the hospital only intensified Toji's shame, the Third Child could see it on his face.

"Damn," Toji said. "Ikari, I feel like a total jackass."

Shinji smirked a bit despite himself. "Look, it's really okay. Spectra tricked you. And I don't have any sisters or brothers myself, but you're not the first guy I've seen who can get violent when someone hurts his sister, or tries to."

"Still…" Toji said, his eyes on the ground. Then he abruptly stood ramrod straight and looked Shinji square in the eye. "I have to make this up to you, Ikari! Just tell me how!"

Shinji had to force himself not to retreat a step from the sudden intensity in the jock's gaze. "Look, there is something you can do to help me, but _only_ if you want to," he said firmly. "Got it?"

Toji nodded, though somehow the half ghost got the feeling that the taller boy would agree even if the task Shinji asked of him involved eating live scorpions whole. "What is it?"

"Normally, when I beat a ghost, I catch them," Shinji said, "but this time I didn't have the right equipment with me to do that, so I could only chase them off. Spectra will be licking her wounds for a while, but when she recovers, she'll start looking to hurt little kids again."

"Bitch," Toji scowled darkly.

Shinji nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to get the right equipment to catch her shipped to me. So you want in when it comes time to fight her again?"

"Get back at the one who's really to blame for hurting my sister? Hell yes," Toji said. "Ikari, you're practically doing _me_ a favor here."

"Trust me, I need the help," Shinji said, rubbing the spot on the back of his head where Bertrand had hit him with the metal pole. He was unsurprised to find it extremely tender. "Anyway…welcome to the Ikiryo-gumi. I should be able to get you one of the decoder rings by Tuesday." He added, smiling.

"Decoder rings?"

"I'm kidding," Shinji said, causing a rather abashed expression to appear on the jock's face. "Listen, I'll explain all this insanity to you as soon as possible, but it's getting late and I have to be home soon."

"Right," Toji said. "I should probably go see Mari. Kid's probably shaken as hell."

The little girl had seemed to be made of much sterner stuff than that to Shinji, but he didn't say so. "Well, see ya."

Toji nodded. "Oh, Ikari?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," Toji said. "You're class-A."

Shinji smiled. "I told you I was just doing my job, but all the same, you're welcome."

* * *

After separating from Toji, Shinji changed back to his ghost form and flew back to the hospital. Once there, he turned invisible and started exploring, trying to determine how Spectra and Bertrand had managed to get as much privacy as they had had.

Fortunately, from what he could tell from spying on several people around the hospital, Bertrand had apparently caused a large distraction by possessing multiple pieces of hospital equipment and causing it to go haywire. So far as he could tell, nobody had been hurt by the shape shifting ghost's efforts.

This was a relief in more ways than one. Shinji had feared that Spectra might have gained some kind of new power, a thought which terrified him. She was a formidable enough enemy for his tastes already.

Once he was satisfied that he'd learned all he could about what Spectra and Bertrand had been up to at the hospital before he'd confronted them, Shinji left, heading back to the apartment.

Of course, time had been passing the whole time, so it was the early evening when he finally made it back home. Shinji was not entirely surprised when Misato rounded on him almost the moment he walked inside.

"Hello, there, Shinji," she said. "So, where have you been all day?"

She was smiling as she asked him this, he noted, but there was a definite edge to her smile. Fortunately, he'd sort of expected this, and he had an answer all ready.

"I went to the hospital to visit a little girl who was injured during my first battle in EVA. Her older brother's in my class," Shinji answered quietly.

Misato immediately scrapped whatever words she'd been planning to say to him after he'd explained himself. Shinji could practically see her doing it.

_And it's even true, if not entirely honest,_ he thought with a twinge of guilt as he headed into the kitchen to start work on dinner.

It had been easier to keep his secret identity in Shinjuku-2, where most people—including his guardian—didn't pay attention to him at all, he mused as he reached the refrigerator and started pulling out ingredients.

An awkward silence pervaded the apartment as Shinji cooked, and it only continued while he and his guardian ate. The Third Child didn't try and break it, however; he might have to offer further explanations on where he'd been otherwise, and if that happened, he'd probably be forced to outright lie to Misato.

Besides, the events of the day had left him in a pensive, brooding mood. Spectra being in town changed things; Tokyo-3 would be seeing more of the Ikiryo than Shinji had planned on, and he was starting to wonder if the ghost that haunted NERV wasn't a more serious matter than he'd originally believed.

_Of course, all I know for sure is that Spectra isn't that ghost,_ Shinji thought.

Spectra had never been so subtle. If _she_ was haunting NERV headquarters, then people would likely be dying left and right. No, it looked like the fortress of humanity had at least two ghosts to worry about at the moment.

"I'm going to bed," Shinji announced after he'd finished washing the dishes.

"But it's barely nine o'clock," Misato said.

"Somehow, I get the feeling that I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow," Shinji said. "I'm sorry for not being very good company tonight."

"Shinji…it's really fine," Misato said. "We all have days like that."

"Thanks," he said, offering her a small smile. "Good night, Misato."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** And here we see our first spooks from the show, with my own little spin put on Spectra. I hadn't originally planned on having the ghost from the prologue show up again this early on, but I realized that it fit pretty well, given that I established that she hates schoolchildren. I was going to alter Bertrand in some way too…but I eventually decided he's just not that important. Fans of Danny Phantom will recognize Shinji's flashback as being a modified version of events from the episode "Doctor's Disorders."

Anyway, from here on out, most of the spooks will be those from the show. Some will be altered somewhat to fit into the Japanese setting, while others will retain their original form. But who is the specter that still prowls NERV headquarters? You'll just have to keep reading this story if you want to find out.

Commander Galos, I don't want to reveal too much about the future plot of this fic, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of Shinji's crazy uncle making an appearance.

Celtic Reaper, you asked a few chapters back which powers Shinji has. I didn't answer then because I didn't want to spoil anything, but now I'll say that Shinji has almost all the powers Danny did at the end of the show. The exception is the Ghostly Wail, because apparently, Danny wouldn't have gotten that one until he was 24 had the events of "The Ultimate Enemy" not transpired (though whether the trigger for Danny to get that power early was having it used on him or just needing to develop it to survive the attack from the ghosts he encountered in the Ghost Zone is open to interpretation).

00idiot, thanks a lot for pointing me toward that wikipedia article on Kuji-in.

Anyway, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers. Now, I believe I promised you all an omake last time, so…

* * *

Omake

You Knew I Would Do This Crossover Eventually

Shinji Ikiryo whistled cheerfully to himself as he soared through the cool night sky, his eyes closed. He loved being able to fly; when he was up amongst the clouds, it was like he didn't have a care in the world, like nothing could get him up here.

"Hey!"

"Bwa!" Shinji exclaimed in fright.

Caught completely by surprise, he went tumbling out of the air, soon landing painfully on the roof of a tall building. Groaning softly, he got to his feet, soon discovering who had managed to call out to him even as he flew above the city.

A blond girl of approximately his age, who had also obviously been flying through the sky, landed next to him, her red cape fluttering in the back. Shinji forced himself not to stare at her impressive figure, which was nicely displayed by the white leotard she was wearing.

"P-Power Girl?" Shinji stammered. "But, this isn't a Superwomen of Eva story!"

"But this is an omake, which means that doesn't matter," Power Girl pointed out.

"Um, okay," Shinji replied. "I guess that explains _how_ you can be here, but _why_ are you here?"

"Are you kidding? When I heard Mike was writing a fic where _you_ got superpowers, I just had to check it out," Power Girl replied with an impish smirk, then added in a sotto voice. "Between you and me, I prefer a Shinji who isn't the Mary Jane to my Peter Parker."

Shinji's eyebrow twitched. "Uh, since you're kryptonian, wouldn't he be the Lois Lane to…"

But Power Girl wasn't listening; she was too busy appraising this version of Shinji. "Hmm, a little more muscular than the one I'm used to," she observed, poking him gently in the chest. "Oh, and I like the quasi-bishonen hair!" She added, taking some of his white locks between her thumb and forefinger and stroking it a bit.

"Uh…thanks," Shinji replied, feeling uncomfortably like a piece of meat.

"You're perfect!" Power Girl said, grabbing hold of his arm. "Come on, Shinji Ikiryo, let me show you how they did it on Krypton!"

Before she could drag him off, and long before Shinji could manage to say anything, another voice interrupted him.

"Power Girl, I believe you should give this Shinji a chance to choose his companion. Perhaps he'd prefer to be with someone more like myself?"

Shinji and Power Girl turned to see that another girl had arrived. This one wore a red and blue leotard with bronze W's by the bust, along with a gold tiara. At her hip, Shinji noted with some trepidation, hung a lasso.

"Wonder Girl, why would he want you when he could have me?" Power Girl asked arrogantly. "I mean, c'mon, the great Power Girl or the lame pseudo-amazon and her creepy bondage games? It's a no-brainer!"

"Perhaps he _likes_ bondage," Wonder Girl countered, pointedly not denying the accusation of being into that.

Shinji swallowed.

"Yeah, because someone who's almost never been in control of his own life would get off on being tied up," Power Girl scoffed.

"This is an AU Shinji," Wonder Girl replied, grabbing the arm that Power Girl wasn't holding. "Perhaps he is different."

"Yeah, right," Power Girl growled. "Now let go of him!"

She pulled on Shinji. Wonder Girl pulled back.

"Stop hogging him, Power Girl," the Amazon demanded.

"No! He's mine!" Power Girl shot back, pulling him back toward her.

The argument soon degenerated into an all out of tug of war between the two superhumanly strong girls, with Shinji as the rope. Not wanting to have his arms torn off, Shinji had no choice but to exercise his own powers, and allowed them to pull him apart, in a matter of speaking.

"Whoa!"

"Ooph!"

The two super powered girls both fell to the ground as the resistance being provided by the other vanished. Both gaped openly as they realized that they were each holding the arm of a Shinji Ikiryo who was identical to the one that the other had a grip on.

"Mein Gott!" Power Girl exclaimed. "You can duplicate yourself?!"

"Uh, yeah," one of the Shinji's answered as he absorbed his twin.

"Why didn't you say so?!" Power Girl demanded. "You could be the answer to all our problems!"

"Huh?" Shinji asked, confused.

"Hey, girls! Get over here! There's enough Shinji for everyone!" Power Girl called.

Shinji blinked. "Who are you…?"

He trailed off as _both_ sets of superwomen began to appear, flying over to them, jumping onto the roof from…somewhere, or just appearing out of thin air. Shinji stared in horror at them all, feeling very small beneath the horde of super-powered women's hungry gazes.

"I can't duplicate myself _that_ many times!" Shinji exclaimed, on the verge of panic.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm sure we'll be able to…motivate you," Power Girl said, giving him a Cheshire cat grin.

It was at this point that Shinji decided to do what he did best: run away. He turned around and began to fly away…only to crash into something very large and immovable, but also surprisingly warm.

"Ooh," he groaned, rubbing his sore head.

_What did I hit?_ He wondered, looking up. His eyes widened when he saw the superwoman who had halted his escape. It was obvious that her color was green…and she _wasn't_ wearing a power ring.

For a moment, all was silent as he sat on the ground, gaping up at the huge woman. He noted with trepidation that her currently relaxed biceps looked as big as his head. Yet he couldn't help but _also_ notice that he could barely see her face from his position on the ground, because the twin swells of her jutting breasts were blocking his view of it.

"Half ghost Shin-chan cute," She-Hulk proclaimed, smiling down at him.

_Never have I been so very, very scared, yet at the same time, so very, very tempted,_ he thought.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**The Importance of Family**

He had a busy day in front of him, Shinji decided as he stepped out of the shower the morning after his encounter with Spectra and Bertrand.

Much as he would have liked to allow himself a few days of leisure in the wake of the crash course in EVA piloting he'd endured, he just didn't have the time for it. Not with one of his most dangerous enemies about, no Fumio or Kamiko around for backup, and a mystery ghost prowling the NERV base.

_And I have to get my business here done before Rei is fully healed, _he mentally added, knowing that his days in Tokyo-3 were numbered. The injured First Child was getting stronger by the day.

He felt a twinge of guilt as he thought about leaving Ayanami to fight the Angels alone, but his spite toward his father reared up and squashed it, as it always did when he considered the issue. He was leaving as soon as she was fully healed, and that meant he had to complete his personal to-do list before then.

"No rest for the wicked," he muttered with a slight sigh as he went into his room to finish dressing up.

A few minutes later he emerged, now clad in his school uniform, and went to the kitchen to start making breakfast. It was Misato's day to cook, but he'd already given up trying to make her do her share of the chores. She didn't do them very well, anyway, especially the cooking.

As the smell of cooking food began to fill the apartment, a groggy Misato wandered out into the kitchen, still wearing the oversized T-shirt she'd gone to bed in. Shinji was surprised, not for the first time, by how good the older woman looked even when she'd just rolled out of bed.

I _wouldn't mind waking up next to her,_ he thought suddenly, and then shook his head. He was starting to sound like Fumio.

Misato yawned enormously, not bothering to cover her gaping jaw with her hand as she did so and allowing Shinji a look at her back molars. "G'morning…" she mumbled to him as she reached into the fridge and withdrew a can of Yebisu.

His soft sigh was drowned out by the loud, joyful whoop she released after chugging the beer.

_That _can't_ be healthy,_ he thought.

"Now _that's_ the way to start to day!" Misato proclaimed cheerfully, suddenly wide awake. "And I can already feel that it's going to be a good one!"

"Is that so?" Shinji asked conversationally.

"Yep," Misato said. "My women's intuition is telling me so."

"Is this the same women's intuition that you tell me will pick the winning lottery numbers for you every week?" he asked in a deliberately mild tone as he started putting food on the table.

"This has nothing to do with that!" Misato snapped.

"If you say so," Shinji replied as the two of them began to eat.

They were nearly finished with their morning meal when there was a knock at the door. Shinji frowned, wondering who it could be. They didn't get a lot of visitors, and in any case, it was early for someone to come calling.

"I'll get it," Misato said, getting up at once.

"Wait a minute," Shinji said, belatedly rising from his own chair a second later. "You're not dressed yet, Misato."

His guardian apparently didn't see any problem with this. Making it to the front door while he was still half a step behind her, she undid the lock and threw it open.

Standing outside were Toji and another boy, whom Shinji was sure he remembered from somewhere. The second boy was shorter than Toji, and had unkempt sandy hair, freckles, and glasses.

"Hello," Misato greeted them cheerfully. "Can I help you two?"

Toji and the other boy didn't immediately respond; they both looked shell-shocked, and Shinji guessed they, too, were thinking about how good Misato looked, even when she was still disheveled from recent sleep.

Or perhaps ascribing such a complex thought to them was an overestimation at the moment. More likely, Shinji thought, they were too transfixed by the impressive twin swells of Misato's bust—currently separated from the open air by only a thin layer of cotton—to be actually _thinking_ anything.

Shinji cleared his throat loudly before the other boys' silence could stretch too long.

"Hello!" Toji said, far more loudly than necessary, then he bowed deeply at the waist. "I'm Toji Suzuhara!"

"And I'm Kensuke Aida!" the freckled boy added, also bowing and speaking too loudly.

"So what brings two nice young men like yourself to my humble home this morning?" Misato asked, acting as though she was oblivious to the reason behind the strange behavior the two boys were displaying, even though Shinji knew she certainly wasn't.

"Uh…" Toji stammered, temporarily forgetting his reason for coming to this place entirely in the face of the purple-haired bombshell. Then his eyes darted over to Shinji and his brain finally shifted into gear. "We're friends of Shinji, and we wanted him to walk to school with us!"

"You didn't tell me you'd made some friends here," Misato turned to Shinji with a smile.

The Third Child almost responded that it was news to him, too; he hadn't expected Toji to show up, and he still couldn't remember exactly how he knew the bespectacled boy.

"Uh, it just happened. I guess it must have slipped my mind," he said lamely.

"Well, you go ahead and go to school with your new friends," Misato said, waving him off. "I have to hop into the shower, anyway."

Shinji resisted the urge to palm his face as he saw the effect of putting _that_ mental image into the minds of his classmates written plainly on their faces.

_I shouldn't have questioned her "women's intuition" earlier,_ he thought as he quickly grabbed his school bag and escaped the apartment.

"Holy _hell_," Toji said as soon as they had put a little distance between themselves and the door. "Ikari, why didn't you tell me you lived with such a total _babe_?!"

Shinji gave the jock an incredulous look. Somehow, he thought that the issue of having a murderous ghost on the loose—one that had targeted Toji's little sister—came before the hotness of his guardian on the list of priorities.

However, he couldn't exactly say that in front of Kensuke. And speaking of him…

"Ikari, is there any part of your life that is anything less than awesome?" he asked in a voice that was more reverent than envious.

The bespectacled boy was giving Shinji a look of naked awe as he said this, and it was this expression—the one that said Kensuke had found his new god—that finally caused Shinji's memory to click.

"You're that guy who heard when Ayanami called me 'Pilot Ikari' and then shouted that I was an EVA pilot!" Shinji exclaimed.

Kensuke suddenly looked very sheepish. "Um, yeah, that was me," he confessed. "Sorry about that. I just got so excited that I guess I lost control."

"Uh, that's okay," Shinji said awkwardly. "It's not like you could undo it."

"Thanks for understanding," Kensuke said, relieved. "And I promise you, I won't blow your other secret."

Shinji's eyes widened and he stopped walking. "'Other secret'?" he echoed.

"That you're the Ikiryo, of course!" Kensuke said in a sort of hiss that was probably supposed to be a whisper but was too loud to be called that.

"You told him?" Shinji asked, his head whipping to the side as he turned to look at Toji.

"I didn't _tell_ him," Toji said defensively. "He asked me where I was all of yesterday afternoon. I tried not to say anything, but he sort of tricked it out of me."

"How did you become the Ikiryo?" Kensuke asked Shinji, not even bothering to defend himself against Toji's accusation of trickery.

"Guys," Shinji said in as firm a voice as he could muster, "Listen, you might think it's really cool that I'm the Ikiryo, but trust me, it has its downsides. My uncle would gleefully try and dissect me if he knew what I am, and I wouldn't put that past my father and NERV, either. So you absolutely cannot let my secret get out, okay?"

They both nodded earnestly, but Shinji still had his doubts about their ability to keep quiet. However, there wasn't much he could do about it now; the ability to make people forget things was not in his repertoire of ghost powers.

"Man, it is so cool that you're an EVA pilot _and_ the Ikiryo," Kensuke said, speaking much more quietly this time, at least. "Though it's kind of unfair, too. You're hogging all the awesome."

Shinji resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Being an EVA pilot isn't as glamorous as you seem to think," he replied. "Being the Ikiryo is better, but that's not always great, either."

These warnings clearly sailed right over Kensuke's head. "Uh huh," he responded. "Listen, I heard you're going to hook Toji up with some special ghost weapons for when you go after this Spectra character."

"Yeah," Shinji said, having a bad feeling about where the bespectacled boy was going with this.

"I want in, too," Kensuke said, confirming Shinji's fears.

"You don't know what you're asking for," Shinji said, feeling a headache coming on. "Spectra's _really_ dangerous; she's not a ghost you want to cut your teeth on. The only reason I asked Toji for help was because I need some kind of back up, and he has a personal score to settle with her."

And really, Shinji didn't trust Kensuke not to do something stupid in his excessive enthusiasm, but he didn't say as much out loud.

"Isn't having two people backing you up better than one?" Kensuke demanded.

He and Shinji debated the matter back and forth for most of the walk. It wasn't until they came within sight of the school building that the half-ghost put the argument on hold.

"Uh, guys, please don't take this the wrong way," Shinji said nervously, "but for the sake of keeping my secret, I don't think we should be seen hanging out together just yet."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Toji asked, frowning.

"Think about it," Shinji said. "Yesterday, the class rep saw you with the Ikiryo, who saved your sister and hers. If you're suddenly all friendly with me today after wanting to punch my lights out a little while ago…"

"Yeah, I guess that could look suspicious," Toji said.

Shinji nodded. "Normally, I can fool people by using my duplicating power to have Shinji Ikari and Shinji Ikiryo show up in two places at once, but the class rep saw one of my duplicates," he said. "So even if I do that, she might still figure it out."

"Okay, I get it," Toji said. "Me and Ken will head in first. You can head in a little after us, all right?"

"Works for me," Shinji replied.

He leaned up against the wall of a nearby building to wait for a few minutes while Toji and Kensuke went ahead. He'd have to have both his personas make an appearance at the same time in the near future, preferably while on camera; coming from Shinjuku-2, it was likely that people would automatically suspect he was the Ikiryo once word got around that the half-ghost was in the city. Best to do what he could to dispel that notion sooner rather than later.

_But I still have to hope that the class rep doesn't connect the dots,_ he thought anxiously, his mind already creating worst case scenarios.

As it turned out, he needn't have worried. Though Hikari Horaki was certainly smart enough to put the pieces together, she didn't really have much interest in doing so. No, she was far more preoccupied with how her crush had dashed to her home in order to help her, and she probably wouldn't have suspected that Shinji was the Ikiryo even if he had started publicly spending time with Toji and Kensuke that day.

Of course, Shinji didn't know this, so he was left counting the seconds as they went by until he felt it was safe to head into school.

* * *

It was really very difficult for someone in his position to refrain from being nosey, Shinji mused later that day, after school had let out. Given his special talents, he could invade the privacy of anyone he wanted without ever having to worry about getting caught at it. And though he certainly wasn't proud of it, there had been times when he'd given into the temptation to do just that.

Though he _was_ proud that he had never given into Fumio's repeated suggestions to sneak into the girl's locker room at Shinjuku-2 Junior High School while they were changing.

_Still, it can be so hard to resist abusing my powers sometimes,_ Shinji mused. _I mean, it can be a pretty heady thought, that I can even sneak into a place like Terminal Dogma without anyone being the wiser._

The currently invisible teenager grinned as he made his way through the dark, secret section of the NERV base, as undetectable as, well, a ghost.

Once school had let out for the day, Shinji had been sorely tempted to head right for the post office and check his PO box to see if the things he'd asked Fumio to send had arrived yet; he was eager to get a hold of the Ikari-phones so he could speak freely with the twins.

However, he'd ultimately opted against it. Even with Fumio sending the requested items by next-day delivery, it was unlikely the package would arrive at the post office until that evening.

And in any case, while he very much wanted to have the Ikari-phones in his grip as soon as possible, he was less eager to possess the anti-ghost weapons Fumio was supposed to send him; despite his best efforts, he hadn't been able to talk Kensuke out of coming along when it came time to hunt for Spectra.

_If that kook gets himself killed…_

Shinji shook his head at the thought, not wanting to even consider the possibility. With any luck, Kensuke would prove himself a more reliable ally than the half-ghost expected him to be. It wasn't impossible; the school wasn't yet buzzing with rumors about the Ikiryo's arrival in Tokyo-3, which meant that the otaku must have had the discretion to keep his mouth shut about the subject. That, at least, was a good sign.

Realizing how deeply in thought he was getting, Shinji Ikiryo quickly pulled himself back to the present, silently chiding himself against letting his mind wander. It didn't take a lot of concentration or effort for him to remain both invisible and intangible for extended periods of time, but he couldn't ignore the task entirely.

Flying straight through a sealed, armored door, Shinji's face fell as his eyes took in a room filled with dusty shelves. The dusty shelves themselves were full of dusty files, and Shinji would have bet anything that at least 99 percent of the things contained nothing but the most boring of records.

_Honestly, you'd think the super-restricted section of the base would have more interesting things than a ton of old paper records and a couple of laboratories in it,_ Shinji thought with annoyance.

Of course, he _technically_ hadn't come down here to spy on NERV. _Technically,_ he'd gone to Terminal Dogma to search for the ghost that allegedly haunted the base, which he hadn't detected the faintest trace of up in Central Dogma.

But when he hadn't detected that ghost down here, either, well, he'd been willing to put aside technicalities. Unfortunately, so far, it was looking like his trip down here might prove about as productive as waiting at the post office for his package would have been.

_I just don't get it,_ Shinji mused as he left the room full of old records and returned to the hallway.

NERV was clearly a place that was bursting at the seams with secrets; he'd known that since that first, insane day he'd set foot inside the base. How could a place like Terminal Dogma be so seemingly devoid of any of them?

He was starting to consider going back up to Central Dogma when it happened. A cold chill washed over him, and he exhaled a cloud of steam in the dark hallway. Turning his head sharply, Shinji was just able to see an eerie glow before it vanished through one of the walls.

Not allowing the surprise he felt at actually finding the ghost to give him pause, Shinji immediately took off in the direction it had gone. Flying through the wall he'd seen the ghost pass into, he emerged into another uninteresting room just in time to see the ghost passing through still another wall there. He still didn't get a decent look at the ghost, but from what he could tell, it didn't appear to be too intimidating. Indeed, it had seemed quite small.

_Maybe if I'm really lucky, it'll be a benign spirit,_ he thought as he continued to give chase.

He pursued the ghost through several rooms, always on the verge of losing his quarry, until he saw it pass through a large, heavily-armored door. Three lock-bolts as thick as his forearm held it securely shut.

A sign next to it read "Dummy Plug Production Plant" in glowing orange letters. Shinji didn't notice it as he barreled forward, passing easily through the door of thick steel.

Once inside, he saw no further trace of the ghost he'd been chasing, but the room itself was enough to make him stop and stare. The shape alone made the room stand out from the other parts of Terminal Dogma he'd seen so far; it was perfectly round, where all the other rooms he'd encountered had been square. The place was poorly lit, so he could only really see what was at the center of the room. However, that was enough for him to know that something bizarre and probably not kosher went on there.

Hanging from the ceiling was a huge… thing made out of metal piping and wires that strongly resembled a giant brain. A piece of metal, which was shaped very much like a spine, was coming down from the metallic brain, and this connected to a large glass tube that was standing in the middle of the floor. Said tube was full of an orange liquid that Shinji felt pretty sure was LCL.

_What the hell is this place?_ He wondered, the ghost momentarily forgotten as he went up to the tube and examined it closely, as though he might divine the answers to the questions he had by staring into the depths of the LCL inside it.

Then the lights in the room came on, causing him to jump. Shinji whirled around, his heart suddenly hammering with the fear that he'd been caught somehow… and a cry of surprise and not a little horror burst out of his throat at what the light now allowed him to see.

On the far side of the room was an enormous glass tank that was filled with more LCL… and Rei.

At least two dozen naked duplicates of the First Child floated in the great tank, staring out at him. Many of them were in strange positions, as though they'd just allowed themselves to drift as they would in the orange liquid, with no regard for their comfort. And all of them were giggling and had utterly vacant smiles plastered on their faces. Their eyes were the worst; those profoundly empty orbs were far more unnerving than the extremely quiet and otherworldly Rei he knew could ever be. He heard himself release another little yelp as he and one of the duplicates locked gazes, and he quickly looked away.

Part of him knew that the ghost he'd been seeking had to be the one that had turned on the lights a moment ago, though he had no idea why it would do that. Part of him knew that meant the ghost was still around, and that he should keep looking for it.

But the rest of him didn't give a damn. He had to _get out_ of this place _right now_.

Flying straight upwards, Shinji fled from the chamber and then retreated from Terminal Dogma entirely.

* * *

"What are you doing, Sensei?" Gendo asked.

The two men were inside the Commander's cavernous office, working on the dull but important minutia that had to be attended to keep NERV functioning smoothly. The older man had been turning his gaze from his work to look around the room every few minutes or so, and Gendo had finally become annoyed enough by it to ask why his former teacher was doing so.

"Sorry. I just keep feeling like someone's watching me," Fuyutski confessed sheepishly.

Gendo would have snorted if he was prone to such displays. "I think you've allowed the rumors that have spread through the rank and file to affect you too much, Sensei."

Fuyutski sighed. "I suppose, or maybe it's just because we've been staring at these papers for the last three straight hours," he said.

"Is that your way of suggesting we should take a break?" the Commander asked.

"Yes," Fuyutski said flatly.

Gendo checked his watch. "Very well," he agreed. "I suppose breaking long enough to get coffee wouldn't hurt."

Fuyutski muttered something that sounded a lot like "thank you, god" as the two men rose from their seats. The old professor's joints popped as he stood after the long hours of sitting. In a minute, they were gone.

_Finally,_ Shinji thought as he watched the door close after them.

Most people, he had learned, had their own sort of ghost sense that allowed them to detect the presence of something otherworldly, if only on a subconscious level. If he or another specter hung around while invisible, the people nearby would often tend to become unnerved and leave the area. However, he had been in his father's office for over an hour already, and only Fuyutski had shown any signs of being even vaguely disturbed by his presence. His father had been seemingly oblivious, making the wait very long and boring.

Not intending to waste his brief window of opportunity, Shinji settled down in his father's chair, and allowed himself to become tangible again, while still remaining invisible.

It had taken him years to be able to separate those two powers, and he probably would have stopped trying before he'd ever mastered the skill if not for Kamiko's prodding. At the moment, he was most definitely glad she had pestered him until he'd gotten the hang of it; he wouldn't dare allow himself to become visible again at the moment, but he needed to be solid to work the Commander's computer.

His father had had the good sense to log out of his account before leaving his office, but that didn't stop Shinji. The Ikiryo had hovered over his father's shoulder practically the whole time he'd been in the office and had seen the man input his password.

_"We'll always have Paris",_ Shinji thought as he typed it in. _That's about the _last_ thing I would have guessed his password would be._

The computer released a small chime as it allowed him access, and Shinji couldn't help but wince. The brief note had sounded far louder than it should have to his ears, and it had seemed to echo in the huge room.

However, his father and Fuyutski didn't come charging back into the office, so apparently it hadn't been _that_ loud.

Well aware of how little time he had, Shinji didn't waste a moment casually poking through his father's computer files. Instead, he immediately started a search for Rei Ayanami.

The First Child's dossier popped up almost instantly. This was not the first time Shinji had seen this particular document, having accessed it before on his own MAGI account. However, almost everything had been deleted from _that_ version. This one, to his surprise, still had some information missing, but it was far more complete.

"Holy crap," Shinji breathed to himself as he read.

The first thing he realized was that Rei had not been born in the way ordinary humans were. No, she had been _created_ in a laboratory, specifically for the purpose of piloting Evangelion, by the looks of it.

_So what are all the clones for, then? Spare parts?_ He wondered, then shook his head and started looking through Rei's dossier again.

He had almost managed to recover from the discovery that Rei was a product of applied biology rather than an old-fashioned human coupling when he got to the part about her genetic donor.

"Yui Ikari," he read off the screen, barely able to believe it.

Any doubt he might have possessed was expelled the moment he got to the picture, though. An image of Yui was included in Rei's file, and Shinji Ikari got to see his mother's face for the first time in a decade.

_So _that's_ why Father had all the pictures of her destroyed,_ he thought, amazed at how Rei looked exactly like a younger, color-shifted version of his mother.

Shinji leaned back in his father's chair, feeling overwhelmed by what he'd just learned. Rei had his mother's DNA. Did she also have his father's?  
He went back to the computer and looked through the First Child's dossier a bit more, but the identity of Rei's other biological parent had been redacted, making Shinji think that whoever it was, it probably wasn't Gendo Ikari.

_Okay, but still, she has my mother's genes, just like I do,_ he thought. _Does that make her my half-sister?_

He supposed it did, in the strictest biological sense, at least. But did it make her his sister in the ways that really mattered? If it did, that would change everything, he knew.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps, and Shinji knew that his father and Fuyutski were coming back. He must have spent more time than he'd thought just sitting in the Commander's chair and waiting for his head to stop spinning.

Cursing, Shinji quickly logged out of his father's account and then vacated the office, going intangible again and sinking through the floor.

The Ikiryo made his way to one of the men's restrooms in the NERV base and flew into a vacant stall, knowing that this was one of the few places he could transform while inside the pyramid without being caught on camera. Once he was back in his human form, he left the restroom and headed toward the exit of the base.

He had some thinking to do, to put it mildly.

The Third Child ducked into one of the elevators and pushed the button to take him to the ground level of the base. Then he leaned against the far wall and continued trying to reconcile what he'd just learned.

A minute or two later, the elevator car halted in its path to Shinji's destination in order to allow someone else to get on. The Third Child started when he saw Rei enter.

"H-Hello, Ayanami," he said faintly.

"Ikari," Rei said with a minute nod as the elevator doors slid shut.

"So, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I am scheduled to take some tests as part of the preparations for the attempt to reactivate Unit Zero," Rei answered.

"Oh, I see," Shinji replied.

Her brow creased very slightly in what was probably Rei's equivalent of a frown. "Are you well, Ikari?" she asked. "You look pale."

"I… I'm fine," he said.

Then an idea struck him. He initially rejected it, thinking that it would probably make him seem weird, and yet his curiosity would not allow him to let go of the notion.

"Ayanami," he spoke. "Would you mind if I tried something?"

She paused for a moment, seeming to consider his extremely vague question. "No," she answered.

Hesitating for only a moment, Shinji reached his arms out and drew Rei into an embrace. The First Child's eyes widened, and she neither hugged him back nor pulled away.

Then the elevator released a chime as they reached Shinji's floor, and he immediately let go of her, not wanting to risk someone seeing them in that position and getting the wrong idea.

"Um, I'll see you later," he said awkwardly.

Then he practically ran away, quickly disappearing around a corner. Rei watched him silently as the elevator doors slid closed again. That had been most unexpected.

"Have I succeeded in my mission?" she wondered aloud.

* * *

After leaving NERV, Shinji headed to the post office, where he found that the expected package from Fumio had arrived at his P.O. box for him. He was surprised at how big the box was, though.

_He didn't send me their whole arsenal of ghost weapons, did he?_ Shinji wondered worriedly as he signed for the package. _There's no way he would've done that when I'm away from Shinjuku-2, and they have to handle any ghosts that show up without me, right?_

His anxieties were dispelled when he actually picked the box up and discovered that it was too light to be full. Relieved, Shinji quickly made his way back to the apartment, finding that Misato hadn't returned yet. After taking the box to his room, he retrieved a small knife and cut the packing tape open. Then he laughed at what he saw inside, instantly realizing why Fumio had needed such a large box.

The "Ikari Anti-Creep Stick" had been crammed diagonally inside the cardboard container, doubtlessly included as a joke. The thing was one of his Uncle Ichigo's most crude inventions ever; in reality, it was just an aluminum baseball bat that Ichigo had written the word "Ikari" on.

Fumio had always been amused by this most primitive of ghost-fighting weapons and liked to talk about the thing as if it was the most effective one in their arsenal, which annoyed Kamiko.

_No doubt he's bemoaning the "great sacrifice" to her right now,_ he thought with a smirk as he continued to rummage through the box.

The rest of the weapons were pretty standard: ecto-blasters and the like, nothing exotic or complex. Which was probably a good thing, considering that Toji and Kensuke had zero real experience fighting ghosts between them.

Finally, he found what he was seeking inside the box, namely a white-and-green headset. This was one of the "Ikari-phones" which tuned out malicious ghostly noises and also served as communications devices. Shinji eagerly donned the headphones and switched them on.

"Hello?" he said. "Fumio? Kamiko? Is either of you on right now?"

He waited for a seconds, and his hopes began to fade as only silence greeted him. He'd have to try again later, by the looks of it.

Then, just before he took the headset off, he heard a crackling of static, followed by his friend's voice. "Shinji!" Fumio exclaimed. "I was wondering when you'd finally get the package and turn on the old 'phones."

"I put them on as soon as I got back home," Shinji replied. "Where's Kamiko?"

"She's around," Fumio answered. "Hang on a sec. I'll go find her. I'm sure she wants to talk to you, too."

"Sure," Shinji replied.

He waited a minute or two and then…

"_Shinji!!_" Kamiko shouted loudly enough to make him wince and recoil.

"Geeze, Kamiko, can you yell a little louder? I think one of my eardrums wasn't completely ruptured," complained Fumio, who was presumably using another headset.

"Never mind that," Kamiko told her brother dismissively, and getting an annoyed grumble from him. "Shinji, what has been going _on_ over there? We thought you'd only be gone for a few days, but you've been there for weeks now! And we keep hearing all these bizarre rumors about what's going on in Tokyo-3! And Fumio said you called him to say that Spectra was in the city and you wanted anti-ghost weapons for some guy you met there!"

She said this all very quickly, and Shinji allowed himself a small, rueful smile. "Um, it's a pretty long story."

"We've got time," Fumio and Kamiko replied in that kind of utterly perfect unison that only twins seem to be capable of.

"Okay," he said with a soft sigh. "Well, when I first got off the train, I was the only person around. Then I heard this _really_ loud noise…"

He explained the whirlwind of events that led to him getting into EVA for the first time and battling the Third Angel. Then he went on to his clash with the Fourth Angel, as well as covering the whole Spectra situation.

"Wow," Fumio said after he'd finished. "You've been busy."

"You have no idea," Shinji replied, suddenly feeling very tired.

"And you still have to catch Spectra before this Ayanami person is ready to return to duty," Kamiko added thoughtfully.

"Um, yeah, about that…" Shinji began nervously.

"Yes?" Fumio and Kamiko asked in identical tones of suspicion.

"I can't come back yet. I've decided that I'm not going back to Shinjuku-2 as soon as she's fully healed anymore," he said. "I'm staying until the war against the Angels is over."

"What?" Kamiko asked.

"Why?" Fumio asked at the exact same moment.

"Guys, please understand," Shinji said feebly. "I found out something about Ayanami earlier today. She's a… a test tube baby, I guess the term is. Guys, my mother was one of the genetic donors. Ayanami's my sister. I can't just leave her."

The twins were both silent for a long moment.

"Shinji," Fumio began slowly, "this whole thing with the Evangelion sounds pretty damn dangerous, even by our standards. You really wanna stick it out for her?"

"Yeah," Shinji answered, "yeah, I do."

"Why?" Kamiko blurted out, then, obviously realizing how that sounded, started stammering, "uh, I mean…"

"It's okay, I get it," Shinji said. "It probably does seem kind of weird to you guys that I want to risk so much for someone I didn't even know existed a little while ago."

"Well… yeah," Kamiko agreed.

"Look, you guys, I'm not like you. You've got your parents, and your grandparents, and a whole bunch of aunts and uncles and cousins. Until today, I thought I didn't have any family at all besides my crazy uncle, and my father who abandoned me when I was four and then called me back to pilot a giant mecha," Shinji said. "And I gotta tell you, you two made having a sibling look pretty good to me, _despite_ your best efforts."

Shinji heard Fumio snicker slightly at that, and he could just picture Kamiko glaring at her brother.

It was true, though. Even with the way the twins endlessly bickered with each other, he had always envied them for having a family member that would always be there for the other.

"I can't just abandon a member of my family to the Angels," Shinji added in a soft voice. "That's… that's something my father would do. I can't be like him. I won't."

He had actually been feeling more and more guilty about leaving Rei to fight the Angels by herself as the time for him to leave drew closer; part of him was actually relieved at being given a reason to stay.

Another part, though, couldn't believe he was voluntarily remaining in the giant death-trap that was Tokyo-3.

"Shinji…" Fumio said quietly.

"Well, if you're going to be staying in the city for a while, we're going to have to figure some things out," Kamiko spoke in a suddenly business-like tone. "For instance, we're going to have to start sending Ikari thermoses back and forth so you can recharge ours."

Shinji smiled, recognizing his friends' acceptance of his decision for what it was. However, Kamiko's shift to practical matters brought him to one of his biggest concerns.

"Are you sure you guys will be all right doing the ghost hunting thing without me?" he asked worriedly.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Kamiko said. "Since you've been gone, we haven't encountered anything except the very garden-variety spooks."

"I know," Shinji said. "But still, that could change at any time…"

"Aw, relax, Shinji," Fumio said. "We're old pros at this, you know. If I was you, I'd be more concerned about the newbies you'll be taking with you to fight Spectra."

The half-ghost groaned. "Don't remind me," he said as he again looked at the ghost fighting weapons inside the box Fumio had sent him.

The three of them continued to talk for nearly an hour, discussing topics ranging from ghost-fighting techniques to the goings on at Shinjuku-2 Junior High School.

Finally, Shinji checked his watch and realized just how long he'd spent speaking with his best friends.

"Hey, guys, I need to start working on dinner soon, so I gotta go," Shinji said.

"That woman from the picture has you cooking?" Kamiko asked in a voice that held a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

"Well, she's supposed to do part of the cooking, but she's even worse in the kitchen than Uncle Ichigo, so I've been doing it all," he said.

"How could anyone be a worse cook than your Uncle Ichigo?" Fumio asked.

"At least Uncle can bake an edible ham," Shinji replied. "Look, before I go, Kamiko, if we start using the Ikari-phones to talk regularly, is there any chance NERV or somebody will intercept the transmissions?"

"Nope," Kamiko said. "The radio waves these things use go right through the Ghost Zone. You'd actually have to be there to listen in on us."

"Good," Shinji said, relieved. "All right. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Hey, before you go, Shinji," Fumio spoke up quickly, "if the relationship between you and your housemate is, um, strictly _platonic_, I was wondering if you could maybe introduce me to her and—hey!"

Shinji heard the noise of a scuffle from the Ikari-phones, accompanied by some yelling. Both the twins' headsets had apparently come off, because all of the noises sounded like they were coming from a great distance away. Sighing softly, he reached up and turned his own headset off. He did think that Fumio tried far too hard when it came to girls, to the point where he came off as kind of perverted, but Shinji thought Kamiko was far too _enthusiastic_ when it came to curbing her brother's "deviant" tendencies.

"I hope they're both still alive when I get back to Shinjuku-2," Shinji commented to himself. "Whenever that is…"

Taking off the headset and putting it back into the box it had come from, Shinji left his room and went into the kitchen, where he started working on dinner. He had just gotten everything cooking when his guardian returned home.

"Hey, Shinji," a tired looking Misato said.

"Hello, Misato," he replied. "Uh, time sort of got away from me this afternoon, so dinner's gonna be a little late."

"That's fine," she replied absently, taking off her red beret and carelessly tossing it in the general direction of her couch. "Ugh, I need a beer."

"Had a rough day?" Shinji asked as she opened up the fridge.

"You have no idea," she replied, cracking open a can of Yeibisu. "Tech Division One is getting ready to try activating Unit Zero again soon, which by itself would make everything nuts. And if the test is successful, Rei will be put back on the active-duty roster. And, well, you know what happens then. We'll be scrambling for a while, trying to get Rei fully up to speed and find a new pilot for Unit One."

"Um, yeah," Shinji said. "Misato, there's something I wanted to tell you."

She put down her beer can as she turned to look at him, which was about as strong an indicator of having her full and undivided attention as one got with Misato Katsuragi.

Shinji took a deep breath. Part of him was still unable to believe what he was doing.

"I've decided not to leave when Ayanami's ready to pilot again," he said. "I'm staying until the war's over."

For a moment, Misato was silent, looking at him with wide, surprised eyes.

Then she abruptly wrapped her arms around him in a crushing hug, and thanks to the height disparity between them, he suddenly found his face smothered in his guardian's impressive bust.

Before he could start suffering from a lack of oxygen, or indeed, even register what was happening, she released him.

"Oh, Shinji-kun, you have no idea what you staying will do for everyone's morale, including mine," Misato said, grinning down at him.

"I'm sure it won't be _that_ big of a deal," he said.

"Are you kidding? Having the only pilot to kill an Angel so far _not_ leave?" Misato asked. "I think everyone will breathe a collective sigh of relief."

"Um, thanks," Shinji said awkwardly, mostly because he couldn't think of any other response.

"Why are you staying, though, if you don't mind my asking?" Misato said. "You seemed pretty resolute when you told the Commander that you'd be leaving as soon as Rei was fully recovered."

He sighed softly. "I just can't bring myself to abandon Ayanami to fight the Angels by herself."

Misato smiled warmly at him and hugged him again, more gently this time.

Not taken by surprise this time, Shinji felt his face heat, though part of his mind couldn't help wondering whether Fumio would have an aneurism or a stroke if he could witness the scene.

His guardian released him after a few seconds. "I'm proud of you, Shinji-kun," she said.

"Thank you," he said softly, suddenly feeling like he had a lump in his throat.

He couldn't remember the last time an adult had told him they were proud of him.

"I should call headquarters and tell them about your decision," Misato proclaimed, heading for the phone.

Shinji turned back to the pots he had on the stove as his guardian made her phone call. That had been rather pleasant, he had to admit, and not just because of the…probably unintended intimacy of the embrace.

_Almost makes all the hell I just agreed to be put through worth it,_ he thought.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **This has been sitting half finished on my hard drive for months now, so I finally decided to finish this chapter and post it. I had actually planned for this chapter to go until the next Angel showed up, but my muse bailed on me. Anyway, here Shinji decides to stay in Tokyo-3, which I'm sure surprises none of you, and our mystery ghost being mysterious. And that's about all I have to say on this one.

Anyway, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta reader as well. Now for some fun.

* * *

Omakes

Some Ghosts are Better Left Alone

He was starting to consider going back up to Central Dogma when it happened. A cold chill washed over him, and he exhaled a cloud of steam in the dark hallway. Turning his head sharply, Shinji was just able to see an eerie glow before it vanished through one of the walls.

Not allowing the surprise he felt at actually finding the ghost to give him pause, Shinji immediately took off in the direction it had gone. Flying through the wall he'd seen the ghost pass into, he emerged into another uninteresting room just in time to see the ghost passing through still another wall there. He still didn't get a decent look at the ghost.

_Maybe if I'm really lucky, it'll be a benign spirit,_ he thought as he continued to give chase.

He pursued the ghost through several rooms, always on the verge of losing his quarry, until he saw it pass through a large, heavily-armored door. Three lock-bolts as thick as his forearm held it securely shut.

Shinji didn't notice it as he barreled forward, passing easily through the door of thick steel.

"All right, ghost!" Shinji said as he finally caught up to it. "You'd better stop and…" he trailed off, feeling the blood drain from his face as he got a good look at the spirit he'd been pursuing.

It was a woman with chalk white skin, wearing a green leotard and cloak. The shape of her face reminded him of Dr. Akagi.

_Oh, crap,_ he thought, knowing this ghost by way of reputation.

"_Do you have business with me, young one?_" She demanded in a haunting, otherworldly voice.

"N-n-no, ma'am!" Shinji said, have _no_ desire to tangle with a ghost who was also the vengeful hand of God Himself. "I'll just, uh, be going now! Bye!"

"_Good call,_" the Spectre said as he hastily retreated.

(A/N: If this didn't make sense to you, you haven't read my fic _Superwomen of Eva 2: Unfinished Business_.)

* * *

Rei Ayanami: Evil Mastermind?

"It would appear that Shinji Ikiryo-kun has vastly improved upon his self-duplicating abilities," Wonder Girl commented.

"Indeed," Silver Surfer agreed. "I believe Zatanna assisted him. However, I do not believe this was the plan for Shinji's increased abilities."

"No, I do not think it was," Wonder Girl said.

The two girls were sitting on the couch in Misato's apartment, watching a long line of Shinji Ikiryo duplicates that was stationed outside Katsuragi's bedroom. As they observed, a very loud, bestial sounding cry of female satisfaction came from behind the door.

A moment later, an exhausted and rather disheveled looking Shinji Ikiryo duplicate emerged from the room, took a few weary steps, and then promptly collapsed into a large, slumbering pile of other duplicates. Then, one of the still conscious duplicates made his way into the room.

All the still waiting Shinji's looked nervous but eager, while all the unconscious ones had big smiles on their faces.

A few minutes later, another happy growl came from the bedroom, and the Shinji that had just gone in emerged and collapsed into the heap of duplicates. The next one went inside.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Wonder Girl and the Silver Surfer turned to see that Power Girl had entered the apartment through the balcony window. The Girl of Steel looked ready to explode in pure rage.

"She-Hulk is…taking advantage of Shinji Ikiryo's newly enhanced ability to duplicate himself," Wonder Girl explained.

"With gusto," Silver Surfer added.

"I can see that, but why are you two letting her do that?" Power Girl demanded. "The point of getting Shinji to duplicate himself so many times was so that we could all have one, not so the Green Monster could have a whole man harem's worth of him!"

"That is correct," Wonder Girl said, "however…"

"We are not exactly…eager to end She-Hulk's fun," Silver Surfer said. "Spirit attempted to fight She-Hulk in one-on-one combat once. It did not end well for her."

"You're both more powerful than Spirit is!" Power Girl pointed out disgustedly.

The Amazon and the mercurial girl both just stared silently at the Girl of Steel.

"Fine!" Power Girl exclaimed. "I'll deal with her! I'm not afraid of Greenie and her bloated beach muscles, unlike you two cowards!"

With that, she stalked over to the door to Misato's bedroom and ripped it out of the wall. "Hey! I'm here to teach you how to _share_!"

Predictably, a green cannonball that was far bigger than Power Girl and made of 100 percent pure muscle launched herself at the Girl of Steel. In moments, the two of them were trading blows that could have leveled mountains in the middle of the living room. Not long after _that_, one of the combatants launched the other through a nearby wall with a particularly hard punch, and the battle had soon left the building.

After that, the apartment was quiet for several long seconds.

Then Wonder Girl spoke. "I told you that would work," she said smugly.

"You were correct," Silver Surfer said as she repaired the hole in the wall with her powers.

"It would appear that you owe me a Coke," Wonder Girl said.

"Indeed," the Surfer agreed. "However, I still maintain it could have been extremely lucrative if we'd had Aida here to tape the fight between the two of them."

"He would only have been able to capture a second or two of it," Wonder Girl pointed out. "Now…"

The Surfer and the Amazon both advanced toward the group of still conscious Shinji's that they now found themselves alone with, uncharacteristically predatory grins on their faces.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**New Team**

Shinji wasn't really sure what to think about Ritsuko Akagi. His initial impression of her hadn't been good; the way she'd tried to railroad him into piloting that first time, along with her failure to tell him how he could breathe LCL until the entry plug was filling with it, _and_ her complete lie about him not having to do anything besides sit in the seat had caused him to instantly dislike the woman.

Indeed, he'd been very surprised to discover that Misato was friends with the bottle blonde, and he hadn't exactly been pleased to learn his guardian had invited her over for dinner.

Yet he had to admit that she was proving herself to be surprisingly good company outside of a work environment, even if most of the conversation so far had been between the pair of adult women, with the two of them largely ignoring him.

"No! Yuki didn't actually do _that,_ did she?" Misato asked, barely managing to keep herself from breaking out into a fit of giggles.

"I swear, she did," Ritsuko said.

It was definitely amusing to listen to the two of them gossip about their fellow NERV personnel, Shinji thought, even if he didn't recognize most of the names that were being tossed about.

The ding of the microwave interrupted the flow of conversation, and Misato rose to get the food. A moment later, she was setting the table with a bunch of instant dishes she'd heated and then added her own "special" touch to.

Shinji threw Ritsuko an apologetic look. The blonde didn't notice and took a bite. Despite himself, the Third Child almost laughed at the look that appeared on her face immediately afterwards.

"Misato, I'm…guessing it's your night to cook?" Ritsuko asked.

"Uh-huh," the Ops Director said between bites, happily consuming her own portion. "Shinji's been doing most of the cooking around here, but you had him in a sync test today, so I had to cook."

"Eck, serves me right," Ritsuko muttered.

"Hey, are you implying that I'm not a good cook?" Misato demanded.

"I'm not implying anything, I'm flat-out saying that you're a _terrible_ cook," Ritsuko said bluntly.

"Why you…" Misato growled.

Nonchalantly ignoring her friend's anger, Ritsuko turned to Shinji. "It seems like she's already put you to work," the scientist commented. "You should move out. Find a more conscientious person to live with."

"Oh, I don't mind," Shinji said. "I'm used to it. My uncle wasn't very domestic, either."

"See, he's fine with it, Rits," Misato said. "Besides, he'd have to go through all kinds of red tape to move now. He just got his permanent NERV ID card."

The Ops Director then shook her beer can a little, and it was obvious from the sound that only a few drops remained. "Oh, Shinji, would get me another?" she asked sweetly.

"Sure," he said ruefully, rising to fetch the requested item.

"Oh!" Ritsuko said abruptly, snapping her fingers. "That talk about Shinji's card reminds me, I forgot to give Rei her new ID card. Shinji, could you take it to her the next time you go to headquarters?"

"I'd be happy to, Dr. Akagi," Shinji said as he returned to the table with Misato's beer, secretly delighted at being given the task.

Perhaps, he mused as he looked at the card, it would be the first step in actually becoming close to his newly discovered sister. The means of figuratively getting his foot in the door, so to speak.

Unfortunately, he must have spent too much time musing on the possibilities, because a cat-like grin appeared on Misato's face. "Oh, someone's staring at Rei's picture!" she proclaimed in a sing-song voice.

"Huh? Oh, no, it's nothing like that!" Shinji said, doing his best to scoff convincingly at the accusation and actually feeling like he did a pretty good job.

Not long ago, he might have had a hard time of it, but with the knowledge he'd acquired from his father's computer, the idea of him and Ayanami becoming romantically involved had become creepy rather than titillating.

"Hmm? What is it, then?" Misato asked, clearly not willing to let the issue drop so easily.

"I was just wondering about her," Shinji said. "I've been here for a while, and we're both pilots, but I barely know a thing about her."

_Aside from where half her DNA came from, that is,_ he silently added.

"Hmm, well, there's really not that much to know," Ritsuko said. "Her life is a little… blank. Rei's a nice girl, but she's just not very adept at, well, _living_."

Looking at the picture on Rei's ID card again, Shinji somehow got the feeling that being a brother might prove even more difficult than he'd feared.

* * *

The day after Ritsuko came over to Misato's apartment for dinner happened to be a Sunday, which meant that Shinji didn't have to go to either school or headquarters. It also meant that he had some spare time in which to see to his own, non-NERV-related affairs.

So that morning, he was flying invisibly through the city, the box with the ghost weapons in his arms. Making his way to a grassy field outside the boundaries of Tokyo-3, Shinji spotted a pair of figures waiting in the relative wilderness. Allowing himself to become visible again, Shinji descended toward them.

"Hi, guys," he greeted Toji and Kensuke. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Hey, it's not everyday you get the chance to learn how to fight ghosts. We were glad to come," Toji replied. "Isn't that right, Ken?"

Kensuke didn't respond. He was too busy giving the Shinji his unpleasantly familiar "you are my messiah" look.

_Oh, god, is he wearing camouflage?_ Shinji thought as he took in the otaku's attire.

He was. Kensuke Aida was in military camouflage gear, along with a matching helmet and black combat boots. The freckled young man suddenly snapped out of his awed state and snapped _to_ attention, saluting Shinji crisply.

"Sir, reporting for training, _sir!_" Kensuke barked, causing Shinji to jump back a step in surprise.

"Uh, at ease," Shinji said.

"Right!" Kensuke said, barely loosening up at all.

Sighing softly, Shinji began to rummage through the box he'd brought with him, and removing a smaller shoe box. "Okay, so, anyway, first thing's first," he said, handing the box to Toji. "Take these."

The jock opened the box to find several slips of paper, each of which had several characters on them that looked to have been carefully made with a calligraphy brush by an individual who wasn't terribly talented at the art.

"What are they?" the jock asked.

"Ofuda," Shinji answered. "I had one of my friends from back home talk me through making them, then I had to test them on myself to make sure they work." He winced slightly at the memory of that unpleasant experimentation.

"What do they do, exactly?" Toji asked.

"You hang them on a door, and a ghost has trouble entering that room," Shinji said. "Slap one on the door to your sister's hospital room, and give the rest of them to the class rep to give to all the students with younger brothers or sisters."

Toji blinked. "What? But how am I supposed to get her to do that?"

Shinji shrugged. "Just tell her the Ikiryo asked you to," he said. "She knows some of what happened the day Spectra tried to attack your sister again, so she should believe you."

Toji looked dubious and unhappy at this notion, but he accepted the box of ofuda without further protest.

"Okay, now that that's settled, we can get to the main reason I asked you guys to come out here," he said, removing a few ecto-pistols from the box he'd brought. Kensuke's eyes gleamed at the sight. "Showing you guys how to use anti-ghost weapons."

"When do you think we'll need to use 'em?" Toji asked. "I mean, how much longer will Spectra hide before trying something again?"

"That's hard to say," Shinji said, as he surveyed the weapons in the box one last time. "Spectra should be in fighting shape again pretty soon, if she isn't already. But she's vain. I seriously doubt she'll show up again until she _looks_ all right again, and that could take weeks. Maybe even months. She was messed up pretty bad."

"Can we go look for her?" Toji asked.

"We can try, if I can find some spare time for it," Shinji said, "but I don't think we'll find her until she wants to be found. Ghosts are really good at disappearing."

"Kensuke and me can search for them alone, if you're too busy with NERV stuff," Toji said.

"_No_," Shinji replied, forcing his voice to be firm. "Spectra would happily kill you if she got the chance. You're not looking for a fight with her without me."

It felt very weird to him to be giving orders like this. There had never been an official leader amongst himself and the Kasuga twins, and if there had been an unofficial leader, that was Kamiko.

But he couldn't very well expect Toji or Kensuke to take the lead. Not when he had years of experience at ghost hunting, and they were just starting out. So that meant he was stuck with the job.

_I miss Fumio and Kamiko,_ he thought.

Pulling himself from his melancholy with an effort, Shinji focused back on the present and held out an ecto-pistol. It was a standard, no-frills weapon, but still effective.

"Okay, Kensuke, why don't you go first?" Shinji said.

"Sir! Thank you, sir!" the otaku barked, even though the image of the disciplined soldier that he tried to project was badly marred by the tears of joy pooling in his eyes.

Shinji pulled the ghost weapon away as Kensuke reached out for it. The otaku gave him a look of surprise and disappointment.

"Kensuke," Shinji sighed, "you're really going to have to stop calling me 'sir.'"

"But you're my superior officer, sir," Kensuke protested.

"The Ikiryo-gumi is not the military," Shinji replied.

The otaku's face lit up. "We have a team name? _Awesome!_"

Shinji suddenly felt like kicking himself. He had decided to keep the name "Ikiryo-gumi" exclusive to himself and the twins by not telling his new friends about it. However, here he'd gone and let it slip almost right away.

_And I always thought I was good at keeping secrets, too,_ he mused. _Maybe it was just easy for me to do that because nobody back home paid attention to me, besides Fumio and Kamiko._

"Right," Shinji said, trying to hide how annoyed he was at himself. "Anyway, let's get started."

He handed the ecto-pistol to Kensuke, who eagerly accepted the weapon and examined it closely. However, there wasn't a whole lot to actually observe. The weapon's shiny white casing and curved lines made it look almost as though it had come out of a science fiction B-movie, but it had no stun setting. It was point and shoot, along with a small screen displaying how many shots remained.

"What are we going to be using for target practice?" Kensuke asked.

"Me," Shinji replied.

Before the otaku could question _that_ statement, Shinji Ikiryo duplicated himself until there were four of him standing with the two newest members of the Ikiryo-gumi.

"Whoa!" Kensuke exclaimed.

"Are you sure we should be using _you_ as targets?" Toji asked, less stunned because he already knew of Shinji's ability to copy himself.

"It'll be fine," Shinji said. "My duplicates get destroyed all the time when I'm fighting ghosts. They just sort of… turn into energy and come back to me. So long as there's one of me left, I'll be perfectly okay."

Toji shrugged. Kensuke simply looked eager to fire the weapon he held.

"Okay," Shinji said, "go!"

Three Shinji's took off into the air, and Kensuke raised his gun and started shooting. After the otaku was finished, the Third Child gave Toji a gun, duplicated himself again, and let the jock have a turn.

"Not bad," Shinji said after Toji had managed to pick off his three copies. "But it took you longer than Kensuke. You're a good shot, Ken."

The freckled boy grinned. "Of course I am! I'm ranked number fifteen in he world in Zombiekillers 3!"

Shinji and Toji silently traded a look at that declaration. The half-ghost boy decided that it would be best to just move on. He reached into his box and removed the Ikari thermos.

"Okay," he said, "most of the time, I'll be the one using this, but you might have to sometimes, too."

"What'll we use it for? Soup?" Toji asked.

Shinji grinned. "Catching ghosts," he replied.

The Third Child removed the top, pointed it away from the three of them, and pressed the button. Immediately, the blue capture beam fired out.

"_Ooo,_" Kensuke said, sounding appropriately impressed.

"Anyway," Shinji said, "this thing is powered by ghost energy, so I need to charge them every now and again. The batteries can't hold enough power for more than a few shots, which is why I'm usually the—"

He stopped suddenly. Toji and Kensuke were about to ask what was wrong when Shinji suddenly shivered and exhaled a breath that was cold enough to steam in the open air.

"What was _that_?" Kensuke asked.

"My ghost sense," Shinji asked, already scanning the area for any sign of one of his foes.

"Spectra?" Toji asked sharply.

"Doubt it, but—"

"Ikiryo! It's time for you to pay for what you did to my first bike!"

"Definitely not Spectra," Shinji said, looking up at the source of the loud shout. "Man, I can't believe he followed me here…"

Toji and Kensuke turned their gazes toward what Shinji was looking up, and their eyes widened in surprise. Flying through the sky was a young man on a motorcycle, with a woman riding behind him.

It would have been obvious that they were ghosts—or at least, not normal humans—form their appearances alone. The young man was extremely pale, and had glowing green eyes, while the woman's skin had a bluish tint to it and her eyes gleamed with scarlet light.

"Who are they?" Kensuke asked, a tremble in his voice.

"Yoshi 13, the bad luck biker, and his girlfriend Kitty," Shinji answered.

"What did you do to his old motorcycle?" Toji asked.

"That's… a long story," Shinji said.

* * *

_One year ago…_

"Take a hike, Yoshi!", grunted Shinji as he fired a ghost ray at the biker.

"Ah!" Yoshi exclaimed, the blast of green light hitting him dead on and knocking him right off his motorcycle.

The biker quickly got back to his feet, and he was about to climb back onto his motorcycle when Kamiko approached, the ghost weapons she held erupting with blasts of ecto-energy. Cursing, the ghost biker took to the air without the aid of his motorcycle, weaving crazily in his attempts to avoid the blasts.

"Dang, hold still!" Kamiko grumbled between gritted teeth as she fired crazily. Her gaze shifted to her brother for a moment. "What are you _doing_?" she demanded.

"What's it look like?" Fumio replied as he finished folding a piece of paper into an airplane.

"It looks like you're just goofing off while me and Shinji are fighting here!" Kamiko snapped.

"Does it _hurt_ to be so wrong?" Fumio asked off handedly, reaching up and adjusting his glasses slightly with his free hand as he scrutinized his creation.

"Guys, focus!" Shinji exclaimed.

Kamiko snapped her attention back to Yoshi to see that he had taken advantage of her distracted state and turned around. The bad luck biker was now charging toward them. She started firing wildly, and Shinji had never let up, but he managed to weave through the energy beams and continued to draw closer to them.

Then, looking as casual as if he truly was just goofing off, Fumio threw the paper airplane he'd made. It was a perfect throw, the kind the he probably couldn't have duplicated if he had a thousand chances to try. The little piece of folded paper sailed right through the narrow gap in the barrage of beams that Shinji and Kamiko were firing at Yoshi.

Even if the ghost biker had had the room to dodge the tiny missile, he probably wouldn't have bothered. The paper airplane hit him dead on.

There was a very brief, very intense flash of white light, forcing the Ikiryo-gumi to avert their eyes. When they dared to look, they saw Yoshi 13 sailing toward the horizon, trail smoke as he arced through the air.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Kamiko demanded.

"Language, sister," Fumio chided with smirk that made his sister glare.

He walked over to his paper airplane, which looked completely untouched by its violent reaction with Yoshi. The tip wasn't even bent. With a grin, Fumio picked it up and began to unfold it. Shinji and Kamiko could tell by the size and dimensions of the paper that the plane had been made from an ofuda.

"I thought that since Yoshi's the 'bad luck biker' this might do better than my usual ones," he said as he finished opening the paper, revealing the kanji written on it.

Shinji blinked as he saw it. Kamiko groaned. Instead of the name of a kami or something else holy, Fumio had written only "good fortune" on this one.

Eager to bring her brother's gloating to end, Kamiko immediately decided to try and get the group down to business. "Come on," she said. "Yoshi will be fazed by that, but we still need to catch him so we can send him back to the Ghost Zone."

"In a minute," Fumio said, walking over to Yoshi's abandoned motorcycle.

"What are you doing?" Kamiko demanded.

"What's it look like?" Fumio asked with a snicker, apparently having taken a temporary liking to that phrase.

"Something stupid," Kamiko said bluntly as she watched Fumio swing one leg over the bike. "You can't just play with a ghost's stuff, Fumio!"

The male Kasuga twin snorted. "Says the girl who still has her souvenir from the last time we fought Ember, despite me and Shinji telling you to just leave it."

Kamiko recoiled at this, and her mouth opened and closed silently several times as she struggled to produce a solid justification for why that was different.

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Fumio," Shinji said dubiously.

"It'll be fine," he said confidently, successfully starting the motorcycle with a loud roar of the engine. "I'll just take a quick spin, and then we'll—"

It was at this point that he twisted the bike's accelerator. The powerful, ghostly motorcycle abruptly shot forward, and Fumio was instantly thrown from the seat of the bike to land painfully on the ground. With no rider to guide it, the motorcycle promptly crashed into a big old oak tree at nearly top speed, promptly reducing itself to scrap. Whatever otherworldly substance was in the fuel tank promptly caught fire and began to burn with green flames.

Kamiko walked over to her brother, who was still laying on the ground, and smirked down at him.

"Don't. Say. A. Word," Fumio glared up at his sister.

Shinji cleared his throat, diverting the twins' attention away from each other. "Now can we go after Yoshi?" he asked, offering his friend a hand.

Fumio took it and Shinji helped him up. "Yeah," he said. "I guess we should—"

"My _bike!_"

"Uh-oh," Kamiko said.

Yoshi 13 had returned, and he had just seen the burning, twisted remains of his beloved motorcycle.

"You totaled my bike!" Yoshi yelled. "Ikiryo! I'll get you for this!"

_Me?_ Shinji thought, blinking stupidly as the bad luck biker advanced.

* * *

_Present Day…_

Shinji had never told Yoshi that it was Fumio who had trashed his motorcycle, not him. He was better able to fend off the vengeful biker's attacks than his friend, after all, so he accepted the heat for Fumio's blunder. Admittedly, there had been times he'd regretted that decision.

Yet this actually wasn't one of them; in fact, it was pretty convenient. He'd very much prefer for Toji and Kensuke to cut their teeth on Yoshi and Kitty rather than with Spectra.

"Okay, guys," he said, "spread out and take shots when you can. Look out for Yoshi's shadow, and if Kitty blows a kiss at you, run."

"Right!" Kensuke said, in what was almost a shout.

Toji just nodded. The two of them then broke off, with the jock going left and the otaku right.

Shinji himself surged upwards into the air, his legs becoming the familiar wispy tail as he went. "Again, Yoshi?" he asked. "Aren't you getting tired of this routine by now?"

"Never!" Yoshi said. "I'll hunt you for the rest of my afterlife if that's what it takes to get revenge for my bike!"

Seated behind him on his current motorcycle, Kitty rolled her eyes.

Shinji, however, was less able to shrug off the remark. "Oh," he said quietly. "Yeah? Well, you stink!" he added lamely.

Yoshi responded by pressing a small button on the center of his bike's handlebars, causing the headlight to spit out a beam of white ghost energy. Shinji dodged it easily, however, and countered with a few blasts of his own ghost rays. Yoshi was barely able to get his bike out of the path of the strikes in time.

"Shadow!" Yoshi growled. "Get him!"

An inky dark shape abruptly peeled away from Yoshi and went flying through the air. Shinji had been expecting this, but he still wasn't quite able to get out of the shadow's path in time. The ebony shape crashed into him, and the two of them went tumbling through the air.

Unfortunately for Yoshi and Kitty, this meant that the two new members of the Ikiryo-gumi now had clear shots at them. Both the jock and the otaku started firing their ecto-pistols, the latter with gleeful cackling that frankly disturbed the former. Their aim wasn't very good at such a great distance from their target, but one of them did manage to strike the side of Yoshi's motorcycle. Its engine let out a loud cough and the began to spit dark smoke.

"My new bike!" he exclaimed. "That's it! I don't know who you two dweebs are, but you're going down, too!"

_Crap,_ Shinji thought, and with a great effort, managed to throw Yoshi's shadow off of himself. Before it could rally itself, the Ikiryo fired a green beam of ghost energy at it, sending it reeling. He then reached for the Ikari thermos that was clipped onto his belt.

Only to realize that it wasn't there.

"Guys!" Shinji shouted to Toji and Kensuke. "I lost the thermos! Try and find it!"

The two of them immediately moved to comply, frantically searching the grassy field for the white cylinder. Knowing that their efforts would leave them vulnerable, Shinji hurled himself at Yoshi, soon crashing into the ghost and his motorcycle.

"Hey!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"Ack!" Kitty cried as she was knocked off the motorcycle and went tumbling for several seconds before she was able to use her own spectral powers to halt her descent.

"Stop beating up my bike!" Yoshi exclaimed, taking a swing at Shinji and striking him on the jaw.

"The bike?" Kiity exclaimed indignantly. "What about me? Your girlfriend! He just threw me right off your precious bike!"

"Um, yeah, you'll pay for that, too!" Yoshi told Shinji, not sounding very earnest about it.

Kitty just huffed wordlessly.

Shinji took advantage of Yoshi's moment of distraction and punched him in the gut, causing the biker to let out a gasp as the air was driven from his lungs. Yoshi retaliated almost immediately, but this time Shinji managed to dodge the blow and countered with another of his own, which landed solidly on the side of Yoshi's head.

"Ugh! That's it!" the bad luck biker exclaimed. "Shadow!"

Shinji turned to see the human-shaped mass of darkness speeding toward him, and he cursed under his breath, wishing he'd been able to capture the thing earlier, instead of just knocking it down for a moment. Realizing that he wasn't going to be able to get out of its path in time, Shinji braced himself for the inevitable blow.

Only it never came. Just before the shadow crashed into Shinji, a blast of green energy struck it, sending it careening off course and well away from the Ikiryo. Shinji looked down to see Toji standing on the ground, holding a smoking ecto-pistol, and he couldn't help but grin. Maybe there was hope for this new version of the Ikiryo-gumi yet.

"All right! That's it! I'm taking you two down right now!" Yoshi exclaimed.

He twisted the accelerator on his bike, causing the engine to release a loud roar, and went zooming downwards toward Toji. Horrified, Shinji immediately flew after Yoshi, but he knew he wouldn't catch the biker quickly enough.

Yoshi fired another blast from his bike headlight, but Toji was able to avoid the attack, and retaliated with several shots from his ecto-pistol which barely missed. Shinji was genuinely impressed by how good Toji was at this right out of the gate, even as he had to avoid his new friend's attacks as well.

Unfortunately, Yoshi decided to switch targets in the face of the jock's surprising skill, veering his bike toward Kensuke. The otaku was still searching the deep grass for the Ikari thermos, and seemed to be completely oblivious to what was going on around him.

"Kensuke!" Shinji barked, even as he continued to pursue Yoshi, firing off as many ghost beams as he could without running the risk of hitting his friend.

The bespectacled boy straightened up, his head emerging from the tall grass. Shinji realized that Kensuke was holding the Ikari thermos in his hands.

Unfortunately, at the sight of the ghost biker bearing down on him, the otaku _freaked_.

Kensuke released a loud, shrill scream, his shaking hands popping the top off the thermos. Then he pointed the open end in Yoshi's general direction and stabbed the button on the side repeatedly.

"Ah!" Shinji exclaimed as he narrowly avoided one of the blue capture beams the thermos was spitting out. "Stop!"

But Kensuke didn't stop. He continued to fire the Ikari thermos again and again in his attempt to stop the ghost speeding toward him. He wasn't really aiming, however, so Yoshi didn't even have to alter his course to avoid getting pulled in.

Shinji, however, wasn't willing to trust in his luck, and he flew off, putting some distance between himself and his enemy. He could try and get Yoshi's attention back on him by attacking from a distance.

Unfortunately, that proved to be a mistake. Just as Shinji felt like he had exited the danger zone, one of the blasts Kensuke fired off from the Ikari thermos went _really_ askew, coming nowhere remotely Yoshi but striking the Ikiryo dead on.

"Oh no!" Shinji wailed as he felt himself getting pulled in. He flailed his arms around, vainly trying to find something to grab onto but touching nothing but air.

Seconds later, Shinji's world became very small, cramped, and dark.

"Let me out!" Shinji shouted, doing his best to rattle the thermos that was jis prison. "Press the other button!"

Thankfully, someone did almost immediately, and the thermos ejected the Ikiryo with the force of a cannon. The half-ghost crashed unceremoniously to the ground, where he landed face first and got a mouthful of dirt.

_I miss the real Ikiryo-gumi,_ he thought dourly as he spat repeatedly.

Getting up, Shinji turned to Kensuke…and his face paled at what his eyes saw. It was clear that he hadn't succeeded in capturing Yoshi, and that the biker had gotten a hit in. The otaku had been knocked to the ground, and his left sleeve had been reduced to shreds, making it very easy to see the blood that covered his arm.

_Oh no,_ he thought, suddenly feeling the urge to throw up.

This was nearly the nightmare scenario for him. He had always feared that it would be one of the Kasuga twins to get badly hurt or worse trying to stop him, and this was almost as bad.

_Damn,_ _I _knew_ Kensuke might not have been cut out for this, but I let him come anyway,_ he thought, filling with self loathing.

Then he heard the sound of a motorcycle revving from above, and Shinji turned his gaze toward Yoshi, his green eyes filled with hate.

The biker must have seen the glare in his enemy's eyes, because the big smirk Yoshi wore instantly slid off his face.

"_Yoshi!_" Shinji shouted as he took off into the air.

"Whoa! I'm outta here!" the biker exclaimed, turning his bike around and taking off.

"Yoshi!" Kitty yelled. "Swing around and get me!"

"No way, babe! I'm gone!" Yoshi retorted, maintained a straight course away from Shinji.

"_Yoooshi!_" Kitty whined in indignation.

As it turned out, however, Kitty was better off with Yoshi abandoning her, because Shinji managed to catch up to him not much later. The half-ghost tackled the biker, and they went careening toward the earth.

Yoshi might have had a chance at throwing his smaller foe off of himself, if only he'd given that foe his full attention. However, the bulk of his focus went toward landing his flying motorcycle on the ground without totaling it as soundly as his first bike had been in the process. Even so, the landing was rough, and Shinji was thrown off of Yoshi when they at last struck the ground.

"Little punk, you almost destroyed my bike again," Yoshi growled, reaching into a compartment in his motorcycle and withdrawing a wrench, clearly planning to bash Shinji with it.

But the Ikiryo proved far too quick for him; without even bothering to get up off the ground first, he fired off ghost rays from both hands before Yoshi could swing. The emerald beams caught the bad luck biker right in the chest, knocking him off the motorcycle as well.

"Hey! Catch!" Shinji heard Toji call.

He turned around just in time to catch the Ikari thermos as it sailed through the air at him. The jock had a hell of an arm on him. Probably from all the basketball he played, Shinji mused.

The thermos's batteries had been almost completely drained by Kensuke's wild barrage, but they instantly came back to life in Shinji's grasp. He pointed the thermos forward and pressed the button, causing the blue beam to rocket out.

"Oh no! Not again!" Yoshi cried, clawing helplessly at the ground as both he and his spectral bike were pulled in.

Once the biker was captured, Shinji quickly scanned the skies, searching for Kitty. However, the biker chick was nowhere to be found. Clearly she had vamoosed while she had the chance. Hopefully this time she'd go and find a guy better than Yoshi, though Shinji suspected that the odds of that were slim.

Not that Shinji spent any time pondering the relationship between the two ghosts. Capping the thermos, he sprang to his feet and rushed over to the otaku.

"Kensuke! Are you okay?" he asked.

"The idiot's fine," Toji grumbled from his place next to his friend, crossing his arms with a scowl.

"Yeah, it's really okay, Shinji," Kensuke added. "He only sort of clipped me. The cut's long, but it's really shallow. I don't even need stitches or anything. I can just bandage it up from the stuff I have in my field kit, and I'll be fine."  
Shinji was so relieved that he didn't even bother to ask about the field kit, and why the freckled boy had brought the thing to a training session right outside the city.

Toji, however, wasn't so overwhelmed. "What the hell was wrong with you?" he demanded. "You shoulda just gotten out of the way, not started shooting like an idiot when Shinji was in your line of fire!"

Kensuke didn't answer. He just stared down at his shoes.

"You're the one who's always wanted to play soldier, but the second you get to, you just panic?" Toji continued. "We might've been able to catch them both if you'd held it together."

"Enough," Shinji said tiredly. "Let's get Ken all patched up."

As it turned out, the otaku's field kit contained practically a whole first aid kit, so cleaning and bandaging the cut was an easy task.

Kensuke didn't say a word until the two other boys were almost finished patching him. "I'm sorry, guys," he said miserably. "I just…I just always pictured it differently."

"Yeah," Shinji said. "Just to let you know, EVA piloting is a lot worse than this."

Kensuke winced.

"Look, there's no shame in saying that you want out of the Ikiryo-gumi now," Shinji said in a softer tone, silently hoping that the otaku decided to pull out of all ghost hunting activities.

"No way," Kensuke said. "I'm in this thing. I can't have you two fighting alone."

"Okay," Shinji said, suppressing a sigh. "You're still in. But if you do this again, you're out. I can't have you getting hurt doing this, Ken."

_Or causing me or Toji to get hurt,_ he added silently.

"All right," Kensuke agreed.

"Okay, well, now that that's settled, let's get out of here," Shinji said. "I think that's more than enough training for one day."

The other two boys quickly agreed, and the three of them started to leave the field. They walked silently for a minute or two, until Toji spoke up.

"Shin-man?"

"Yeah?"

" 'You stink'? Really?" the jock asked, a smirk creeping over his face. "That was the best you could do?"

Shinji scowled. "Look, not all the banter can actually be witty," he said. "Trust me, it just doesn't work that way in real life."

* * *

The next morning, Shinji found himself walking to Rei's apartment building, her new NERV ID card in hand. The Third Child was…less than thrilled by the neighborhood his fellow pilot and secret half sister lived in. Put simply, the place was a slum.

_How can my father let her live here?_ Shinji wondered as he looked around.

Even in broad daylight and knowing that he had abilities which would allow him to easily thwart any attacker, he still felt uncomfortable and less than safe there. Forcing a teenage girl here to live all alone just seemed wrong.

His opinion of the arrangements NERV had made for Rei didn't improve when he reached her apartment building, which looked like one of the most run down structures on the block. He didn't try the elevator; even if it worked, he wouldn't have trusted it not to fail catastrophically. However, climbing the stairs was almost no better; they were littered with several used condoms and an empty hypodermic needle. It didn't seem like anybody but Rei actually lived there, so far as he could tell, but it was obvious that many people used the building for…illicit activities.

"This place is horrible," Shinji said softly to himself, growing more and more appalled with every step he took.

_God, would Father have put me in a place like this, too, if Misato hadn't volunteered?_ He wondered.

After some brief consideration, he decided that wasn't likely. He had barely been willing to stay even temporarily at that point, so the Commander probably wouldn't have dared to give him a reason to hasten his departure. Still, that he'd done this to his sister was bad enough.

Shinji was finding it was surprisingly easy to invoke feelings of fraternal protectiveness and anger in him, even though he'd only recently made the discovery he had a sibling.

He eventually arrived at her door and pressed her doorbell. Shinji wasn't very surprised to find it broken.

"Hello?" he called, knocking on the door.

He hadn't hit it very hard, but it opened with a creak under the force of his knocking anyway. Shinji blinked, and he immediately went on guard, wondering if someone had broken into the apartment and attacked Rei.

_Section Two would protect her from something like that, right?_ He thought.

He knew that they were supposed to, at least, but Misato had more than once ranted to him while slightly drunk about how incompetent and brutal NERV's private force of men in black was.

The inside of the apartment was as bad as the rest of the building, but it didn't look like that was the result of a struggle. Rei's floor was scuffed, a clear indication that she didn't bother to take off her shoes when she entered her home, unlike just about every other person in East Asia. Looking at the dirt on the tiles, Shinji decided to keep his shoes on, even though he normally never would have done something so impolite in another person's home. He advanced into the apartment, still not letting his guard down entirely.

The apartment looked like it had never been clean and new. The walls weren't finished; the drywall had never been panted or covered in wallpaper, and there were numerous stains on them, the origins of which he'd rather not guess at. There was a bare minimum of furniture in the apartment, and used bandages littered the floor, along with empty prescription bottles. Glancing behind him, Shinji saw that Rei's mailbox was overflowing with junk mail she apparently hadn't bothered to throw away.

_Doesn't she care at all?_ He wondered.

"Ayanami?" he called, looking around.

"Yes?"

Shinji turned, then nearly jumped a foot at what he saw. Rei Ayanami stood in the doorway to what must have been her bathroom, with a towel draped over her shoulders, and not a single stitch of cloth on her body otherwise.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Shinji exclaimed, both turning his head to the side and holding a hand up before his eyes.

He found himself extremely grateful that he'd discovered Rei was his sister earlier rather than later. It would have creeped the hell out of him if he'd enjoyed that look and then found out at some point down the road he was related to Rei.

"For what?" the First Child asked softly as she walked over to her dresser and pulled out her undergarments.

"Um…just walking into your home? Seeing you naked?" Shinji suggested.

"That is unimportant," Rei said simply.

"It is?" Shinji asked stupidly.

"Yes," Rei said.

_She really doesn't care,_ he thought. _What did you do to her, Father?_

Shinji kept his eyes dutifully away from Rei for a few minutes, even though he was pretty sure that the rustling of cloth that he was hearing meant that she was getting dressed. He kept his gaze averted until he heard the door to the apartment shut, signaling that she had left.

_She doesn't even care that I'm in here?_ He thought, then shook his head, wondering why he was surprised. It wasn't exactly like this was outside the pattern.

Shinji hurried outside to follow her, not catching up to the First Child until she had made it to the sidewalk outside her apartment building. "This is yours," he said, holding out the card. "Dr. Akagi gave it to me for you."

Rei accepted the piece of plastic without a word, giving him a fractional nod of thanks. Or perhaps just of acknowledgement.

He held back a sigh. "Rei, why do you….? I mean, why don't you…? Why haven't you…?" he stammered, looking for some politic way to phrase his question.

"What?" Rei asked.

"Why don't you ask to be relocated to some place nicer?" Shinji asked.

"Why would I?" Rei replied.

"Because…your home…it's dirty. And in a bad neighborhood. It's not safe there, Ayanami," he said.

"Section Two sees to my protection," she said.

"Maybe, but they only have to be asleep at the switch for an hour or so for…something terrible to happen," Shinji argued.

"The odds of that are negligible," Rei declared.

"But wouldn't you prefer zero?" he pressed.

"What I prefer is irrelevant," Rei said.

Shinji felt his hands curling into fists. This had to be his father's fault. No one else would have dared to stick an Evangelion pilot into the dump where Rei lived.

He decided then and there that he was going to get Rei moved to someplace nicer, no matter what it took. No sister of his was going to live in such a terrible place, not while he had anything to say about it.

But for the moment, there was clearly little point in pursuing the matter. "So, are you scared about the Unit Zero reactivation test today?" he asked.

"No," she said. "Why should I be?"

He blinked. "Ritsuko told me how it hurt you, last time."

Despite everything, Shinji was surprised by Rei's blasé reaction. It was one thing to be indifferent about living in a dump. It was quite another to be indifferent about getting back into a war machine that had gone berserk and left her in the half-dead state he'd first met her in the last time she'd tried to activate it

"Don't you trust your father's work?" Rei asked.

"My father managed to bring about a situation where the fate of the world was riding on someone who'd never even seen an EVA before, so, no," Shinji said bluntly.

Rei's head abruptly turned, and Shinji found himself shrinking back from the look in her crimson eyes.

Unbeknownst to him, the blue haired girl seriously considered slapping him. The only thing that stopped her was the Commander's standing order to attempt to get close to him. She was not sure that this was required of her any longer, because the Third Child had recently agreed to stay in the city on a more permanent basis. However, an order was an order until it was rescinded, and even with Rei's lack of knowledge on social niceties, she knew that slapping him would not further that end. So she simply turned away from him and continued on her way to the NERV base.

The rest of the walk was a silent one.

* * *

"We will now begin the Unit Zero reactivation experiment," Commander Ikari stated to the test chamber control room. "Begin primary connection."

Shinji stood with Misato, off to the side and out of the way as the technicians ran through the start up checklist. The two peered through a small window at the metallic, orange colossus that was Unit Zero. They were both slightly nervous. Though neither had seen Unit Zero go berserk the first time, they had no desire to see in person what that was like.

_What am I gonna do if it does?_ Shinji wondered.

He could, of course, go ghost and try to get Rei to safety, but that would blow his secret for sure. Then again, how could he possibly just stand by while the one member of his family he actually liked went through that again?

_Yeah, but do you really like her?_ A nasty little voice whispered from the back of his mind. _Come on, she's a cold fish, and a ball of issues. _And_ she doesn't seem to like _you_ much. You really like the _idea_ of having a sister, but you don't actually like _Rei_ all that much._

Shinji stalwartly ignored that voice and gazed at Unit Zero.

"Approaching the absolute borderline!" Maya called. "Two point five more, two point three, two point zero, one point eight, one point six, one point three, one point one, zero point seven, zero point four, zero point one…"

Shinji held his breath. This was it, if Unit Zero was going to go berserk again, it was going to do it when Rei's sync ratio passed the absolute borderline. If he had to make a choice, the moment of decision would come in just a second.

"Absolute borderline!" Maya called.

Unit Zero didn't move. Except for the words "EVA 00 prototype" lighting up on its arms, the giant might well still be asleep for all anyone could tell by looking at it. Shinji and Misato both let out a relieved sigh.

"One point zero and rising!" Maya called. "Unit Zero has been successfully reactivated."

"Roger," Rei replied, her usual, soft voice coming from a pair of speakers in the control room. If she had been afraid, it was impossible to tell. "Beginning interlock tests."

One of the phones in the control room suddenly rang, and the Vice Commander quickly picked it up. He listened briefly to the person on the other end before saying, "I understand," and hanging up.

"Ikari," Fuyutski said. "An unidentified object is rapidly approaching NERV Central! It may be the Fifth Angel!"

Gendo gave no outward signs of surprise beyond straightening slightly. "Abort the test. Place all operations on first stage alert."

Fuyutski's eyes narrowed. "You're not going to use Unit Zero, are you?" he asked, despite already knowing the answer. Any paternal warmth Gendo Ikari might feel was directed solely at Rei Ayanami. He would gladly throw his own son into the line of fire to protect her.

"She's not ready to fight yet," Gendo answered. "Unit One's status?"

"It can be ready in 380 seconds," Akagi answered.

"Make it so," Gendo ordered.

Shinji resisted the urge to hold back a sigh. _Once more into the breach,_ he thought. _Well, hopefully this time it doesn't _hurt_ so damn much._

He opened and closed his fists. He could still remember feeling the pain of having his hands shattered, as well as the certainty that he would never be able to use them again. He'd rather not experience something like that again.

Of course, where NERV and the Angels were concerned, what he wanted rarely made any sort of difference.

* * *

A few minutes later found Shinji in the entry plug of Unit One, awaiting his latest battle. His teeth were clenched, and his hands gripped the control yokes so hard that his knuckles were white.

_I could be home right now, maybe hanging out with Fumio and Kamiko,_ he told himself. A small, rueful smile appeared on his face.

Then Misato gave the order for him to launch, and the smile vanished off his face as he felt the force of acceleration press down upon him as his EVA rocketed upwards. He remembered one time he had gone to an amusement park along with the Kasuga family. He had hated the roller coasters.

Fortunately, the ride was brief. Unit One arrived at the surface after only a few seconds, and all of a sudden, Shinji was treated to a wonderful view of the Fifth Angel. It was an enormous, eight-sided diamond with bluish, reflective surfaces. Compared to the last two Angels, it didn't look dangerous at all.

At least, it didn't until there was a flare of purple light from one of the corners, and a blast of light that was thicker than an oak tree soared directly toward Unit One.

The Third Child, no stranger to having blasts of energy coming his way, reacted instantly, throwing EVA Unit One into a roll that would take it out of the path of the deadly attack.

Or at least, he tried to. Unfortunately, NERV had failed to release the final restraints on the test type Evangelion, namely the huge shackles on its feet that prevented inertia from carrying it into the air when it reached the end of the EVA lift. The metal groaned and bent. If Shinji had known it was there and had put more of Unit One's strength in it, the shackles would have broken entirely. However, he had completely forgotten they were there, and they held. He released a small yelp as he found his attempt at escape thwarted.

And Unit One snapped back to a standing position just in time for the energy beam to crash into its chest.

Shinji threw back his head and screamed at the top of his lungs as the LCL he was immersed in began to boil furiously. With the part of his mind that wasn't consumed by pain, he desperately tried to render himself and his Evangelion intangible, but he couldn't concentrate enough on the task to actually do it.

All he could do was cry out in pain.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**I'm not too wild about this chapter. Yoshi 13 and Kitty's appearance was necessary to the plot, but it felt random, and otherwise, it pretty much followed canon. Oh well. I have some really cool plans for this fic, and this chapter was just something I had to get through in order to bring myself closer to being able to write them out.

**Dark Vizard447**, I happen to like Danny Phantom and think it's the best show Nickelodeon has produced in a long time, excluding Avatar: The Last Airbender. You're free to disagree with me there, of course, but I think giving Shinji the powers of Danny, a skinny teenage boy who was sometimes smacked around a bit by life, is a lot more appropriate than fusing him with a dark, uber badass superhero.

Anyway, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta reader as well. Now for some fun.

* * *

Omake

Rei Ayanami: Evil Mastermind!

The lowest levels of NERV Headquarters, known as Terminal Dogma, were composed of dim, poorly lit corridors. However, Power Girl had little trouble navigating down in the bowels of NERV, despite the way the irksomely large amounts of lead in the walls thwarted her X-ray vision much of the time.

The Girl of Steel had clearly had better days. Her costume was torn and tattered in places, and her scarlet cape was missing completely. She also had a rather battered appearance still. And given how quickly she healed, one could only imagine how bad the initial bruises and abrasions had been.

Yet despite this she continued on, as determined as ever, until she arrived before a room that a sign indicated was the Dummy Plug Production Plant. An enormous, armored door, which would have made anything to be found in any bank or even any nuclear missile silo look puny by comparison, separated her from the inside of the room.

With a small, contemptuous noise, Power Girl grabbed hold of the door, her fingers sinking into the metal like it was no harder than putty, and ripped it off the wall. Without even a grunt of effort, she tossed it aside. The floor shook as the door crashed down onto it.

With a huff, she stalked into the chamber beyond, not even taking notice of the large tube of LCL that stood in the center of the room, or the thing that looked like a giant metal brain hanging from the ceiling. Her sky blue eyes immediately locked onto the Silver Surfer and Wonder Girl.

"Hello, Rei," Power Girl greeted them.

"Asuka?" Wonder Girl asked, clearly surprised.

"You were fighting the She-Hulk," Silver Surfer said. "How did you get here?"

"How do you think?" Power Girl asked with a scowl, placing her hands on her hips.

"Did you…actually win?" Wonder Girl asked.

"You don't have to sound so surprised!" Power Girl snapped.

"I was not expecting either of you to win," Wonder Girl said. "It seemed unlikely in the extreme that Mike would decide who would win such a battle in an omake, especially if it was 'off screen.'"

Power Girl cleared her throat, suddenly looking rather sheepish. "Well, it probably wasn't exactly a _definitive _win."

"Oh?" Wonder Girl asked.

"Look, I'm sure I _could_ _have_ outlasted Greenie," Power Girl said defensively, "but the way things turned out, I didn't have to. I happened to knock her right into the Yebisu bottling plant here in the city. She landed in this huge vat of beer and decided to drink her way out. Problem for her was that all that beer apparently relaxed her enough to make her change back to normal by the time she was done."

"So where is she now?" the Surfer asked.

"Still at the bottom of that empty vat, sleeping it off," Power Girl answered.

Both versions of the First Child sweat dropped. "You know, She-Hulk was quite nude when the two of you left the apartment," Wonder Girl said. "You didn't leave Misato sleeping naked at the bottom of an empty vat of beer in the middle of a factory, did you?"

"Of course not!" Power Girl said indignantly. "I covered her up. Where do you think my cape went?"

"…I see," Wonder Girl said.

"Anyway, forget about Misato!" Power Girl said. "After I was done with Greenie, I headed back to the apartment, and there wasn't a single Shinji to be found. I know the two of you have them! Now pony up!"

"But, Asuka, are we not entitled to some of Shinji duplicates, too?" Silver Surfer asked innocently.

"Sure, but we all agreed that each of us gets one," Power Girl replied.

The ghost of a smirk twitched across Wonder Girl's face. "Yes, about that…"

The far door to the room suddenly opened, and in poured the Shinji duplicates…along with an equal number of Rei duplicates. Half of them had metallic looking skin. The others looked more like ordinary Rei's, but the awakened clones had noticably more muscle mass and tone than they once did, which seemed to suggest that they were at least part Amazon. But, metallic or not, each one was clinging possessively to the arm of one of the Shinji duplicates. All the copies of the Third Child gave her a sheepish, apologetic, "please don't kill me, this wasn't my idea" look.

Power Girl took in the whole scene with a silent, disbelieving gaze.

"Asuka?" Wonder Girl said softly after a long moment.

The Girl of Steel didn't reply, at least not with words. Instead, she fainted, anime style, her legs sticking up in the air when she was done.

All was silent for a moment after this.

Then Silver Surfer spoke. "We are good."

"Yes, we are," Wonder Girl agreed with a small smile.

No one ever did notice the little blue fly on the wall.

* * *

Several floors above Terminal Dogma, the Blue Beetle and Miss Fantastic stood, watching a screen upon which the entire scene occurring below played out before their eyes.

"Look at them," Blue Beetle said.

"They think they've won," Miss Fantastic observed. "They have no idea what we're about to do."

"Indeed," Blue Beetle agreed. "Shall we indulge in some stereotypical mad scientist type laughter before we execute our plan?"

"I believe it's practically mandatory in this situation," Miss Fantastic replied.

"Very well then."

"_Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!_" Both superwomen threw their heads back and laughed.

Unnoticed by them, a janitor happened to pick that moment to pass by. He just sighed and kept pushing his broom across the floor.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder…" he grumbled to himself.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**The Moments Before Battle**

Shinji Ikari screamed. Shinji Ikari screamed as he had never screamed before.

This might have had something to do with the fact that he'd never been the target of a giant monster's particle beam before.

_Go intangible, damn you!_ He commanded himself savagely, even as his screams continued unabated. However, he couldn't focus his mind well enough to do it; it was like that awful moment against the Third Angel all over again.

One of the benefits of the LCL, Shinji was discovering, was that the way it oxygenated his blood directly meant that he didn't have to stop shrieking in order to draw a breath.

However, when the amber liquid started to bubble furiously around him, Shinji decided he would gladly trade the LCL for good old fashioned air.

_Oh god, this is hell! There has to be __**something**__ I can do! Come on, Ikari, think! __**Think**__ damn you!_

But his mind remained frustratingly blank, and Shinji soon found himself flailing around wildly as the heat and pain ate away at his ability to think rationally. He knew his crazed movements weren't even remotely constructive, but he was in such agony that he was overwhelmed by the need to do _something_ to try and diminish it.

_Ice powers!_ He thought, abruptly realizing he had what he needed to combat the awful, awful heat. Even if he couldn't turn Evangelion Unit One intangible, he _might_ be able to keep himself from getting boiled alive.

The pain making him momentarily heedless to the consequences of revealing his secret to everyone, Shinji desperately struggled to summon up the wintry powers he knew dwelled within him.

He almost managed to succeed, too. However, the stifling temperatures within his entry plug, combined with the pain he was receiving through his neural link with EVA, simply overwhelmed him.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the command centers, all the klaxons were blaring at maximum volume, and every screen in the place was displaying a red warning message.

"Unit One's armor is melting!" Aoba exclaimed. "The temperature of the LCL inside the plug is at 120 degrees and still rising!"

"The pilot's lost consciousness!" Maya added. "Synchro ratio is plummeting!"

"Shinji's core body temperature is becoming dangerously high," Makoto said grimly. "He's being cooked alive in there, Captain."

"Retrieve the EVA!" Misato barked. "Do it now!"

"We can't," Aoba said. "The lift is jammed."

The Operations Director grit her teeth. There was no way in _hell_ she was going to let this kid die in their war, not without doing everything she possibly could to stop it.

"Then blow the charges! Just get him out of there," she commanded.

"Yes, ma'am," Makoto said at once, his fingers becoming a blur as he punched in the necessary commands.

Inside the Evangelion lift shaft that had taken Unit One to the surface, a series of small explosives suddenly detonated, destroying the various mechanisms that kept the carriage the test type Evangelion stood upon in place. It began to descend, but the safety mechanisms had been left untouched, and they ensured that the titanic war machine didn't enter an uncontrolled fall.

_The budget people and base development are going to want to kill me,_ Misato mused, knowing that that particular Evangelion lift wouldn't be of any use until some very expensive repairs had been performed. _Oh well._

The Angel kept its deadly beam weapon trained upon Unit One's chest as it sank back down toward the safety of the Geofront, until it was hitting only the street. It had shot straight through a building to hit Unit One, and with the termination of the beam, the remains of the structure collapsed into a pathetic looking heap of melted metal and glass.

"The target's gone silent," Aoba announced, amazed.

Misato couldn't blame him for being surprised, especially since she was confused herself. She couldn't see any reason for the Angel to halt its attack while it was clearly winning.

However, she had other concerns on her mind, and with the Angel deciding to give them a reprieve, she could turn her attention toward them.

"What's the pilot's status?" she demanded.

"He's alive," Makoto said. "But his brainwaves are extremely erratic. Cardiac readings are very weak."

"Increase power to the life support systems," Ritsuko commanded. "Give him a heart massage!"

Inside the plug, Shinji's unconscious body jerked as the small defibrillator built into the chest of his plug suit went off.

"Heartbeat stabilized," Makoto announced, clearly relieved.

Part of Misato couldn't help wonder if the lieutenant was relieved because Shinji—the fourteen-year-old boy who had essentially been blackmailed into piloting Evangelion—would survive, or if it was because the Third Child—the person who currently bore the brunt of the responsibility to protect mankind—would live to fight again.

Misato knew that, as the Operations Director, it should be the latter that made her breath her own sigh of relief, but her emotions refused to cooperate and be professional on the issue.

"Unit One is secured inside cage number two," Aoba announced a moment later.

"Force eject the entry plug!" Ritsuko commanded. "Emergency LCL discharge!"

"Roger!" Maya said.

"Hyuga, what's the status on the Angel?" Misato asked.

"It's holding position, and the MAGI aren't detecting any energy spikes," he answered.

"Good," Misato said. "I'm going to the cage. Contact me if there's any change."

"Yes, ma'am," Hyuga said.

Misato barely even heard him acknowledge her. She had gotten onto a small, personal lift and was already on her way to the cage. Breaking out into a sprint as soon as she had arrived at the correct floor, the Operations Director reached cage number two just as a robot arm was removing the Third Child and his command chair from the entry plug.

"Oh, Shinji…" she said softly.

He looked terrible. His body was completely limp, and thin trails of blood streamed slowly from his nose. His skin was badly flushed, and Misato could feel heat radiating off of him as soon as she drew close.

_He's not out of the woods yet,_ she thought grimly.

"Move it! Out of the way!"

The Operations Director turned to see a team of paramedics rushing up with a gurney. She quickly stepped away from the Third Child, allowing them to do their work. In moments, they were wheeling him away, conversing quickly in medical jargon she didn't understand.

Misato was now alone. As much as she wanted to follow the paramedics – to keep an eye on Shinji – she had a job to do.

_All right, time to figure out how to kill that Angel,_ she decided, heading for the Strategic Analysis Room.

* * *

_Hours later…_

"Do you really believe this will work?" Ritsuko asked.

Misato didn't answer immediately, instead gazing out at the various members of Technical Division Three as they scrambled to assemble the massive weapon she had requisitioned from the JSSDF. Rei and Unit Zero had proved invaluable in obtaining the prototype positron rifle, both with the actual transportation and "persuading" the military to part with the weapon.

_That thing was just a bunch of parts a few hours ago, and now it's actually starting to like an honest-to-god gun,_ she thought.

She was secretly more than a little flabbergasted by the results of her flexing her authoritative muscle; orders that normally would take months just to be cleared were going to be executed and finished in under a day.

All because the Angel attack meant that when she said "Jump!" people had to ask "How high?"

"I mean, sniping the Angel from the mountains outside the city, and using all the power in Japan to do it with?" Ritsuko's words brought the Operations Director from her reverie. "That's a wild plan even by your standards."

"It'll work," Misato insisted, then added, "assuming we'll have a pilot for Unit One."

Ritsuko arched an eyebrow. "You think Shinji will refuse to pilot?" she asked.

Misato sighed. "I think it's a definite possibility," she said. "That kid has been much more courageous than we had any right to expect him to be, given the circumstances. But we can't just assume an untrained, fourteen-year-old **civilian** we thrust into the entry plug will be able to keep that up forever. Especially if he endures hell every time he fights an Angel."

The Operations Director could still vividly recall Shinji _screaming_ in agony at the climax of his battle against the Fourth Angel with depressing ease.

"There's no way Rei will be able to pull off this 'Operation Yashima' of yours alone," Ritsuko said. "Even if Unit Zero was equipped with battle-grade armor, Rei's lower sync ratio—"

"I _**know**_," Misato interrupted testily, then sighed. "Sorry, Ritsuko, you didn't deserve that. It's just—"

The Ops Director was cut off by the ringing of her cell phone. Quickly fishing it out of her pocket, she flipped it open and held it to her ear. "Katsuragi here," she said.

"Captain, this is Dr. Ichijo, from the Medical Ward. The Third Child's regained consciousness."

"I see, thank you for informing me, Doctor," Misato said, then pressed the end button on her phone to terminate the call.

"Well?" Ritsuko asked.

"Shinji's awake," Misato told her friend as she started dialing a number into her phone.

"And you're not rushing down to the ward to comfort him?" Ritsuko asked, just the slightest trace of a mocking edge to her voice.

"No, I'm going to ask Rei to brief him on our battle plans," Misato said.

A tiny smirk appeared on the faux blonde's face. "Sending down the girl he piloted to protect in the first place, so as to remind him who will be taking his place if he bails on us now? I didn't know you had it in you, Captain Katsuragi."

Misato's eyes flashed. "_Don't_ act like what I'm doing is praiseworthy," she said. "It's not. Not even close, and if there wasn't so much at stake, I would never do it."

"But _everything's_ at stake," Ritsuko pointed out.

Misato might have made some retort to that, but the First Child chose that moment to answer her phone.

"Hello, Rei," the Ops Director said. "I need you to do something for me…"

* * *

Shinji Ikari lay in his bed in the NERV Medical Ward, not quite fully conscious, and gazed up at the ceiling sightlessly. On some level, he knew that he should probably force himself to get up and find out what had happened after he'd almost gotten boiled alive. However, he was in the grip of a bone-deep weariness; one he didn't have the will to overcome at the moment.

It was the sound of a squeaky wheel that finally gave him the motivation to pull himself out of his stupor. Realizing that someone was coming, he sat up and shook his head to clear out the cobwebs.

The realization that he was naked beneath the blankets caused Shinji to pale; he barely pulled the sheets up just as Rei walked in. She was pushing a cart that had the squeaky wheel he'd heard.

Shinji very abruptly remembered that the second time he'd seen Rei, after the First Battle of Tokyo-3, a pair of orderlies had been pushing her through the medical ward on a bed that had a similarly squeaky wheel.

_There might be something deep and philosophical I can read from that. But then again, probably not,_ he mused idly as he inspected the cart. A plastic tray with a meal upon it sat on top of it, and a fresh plug suit sat on a small shelf near the bottom.

"Hello," she said simply.

Shinji was able to muster up a small smile in response. "Hello, Rei," he said. "So, did I win?"

The First Child didn't realize the joke for what it was. "No. You were attacked by the Angel and would likely have suffered irreversible injuries had Captain Katsuragi not recalled Unit One," she said.

"Ah," Shinji replied, his voice a little faint. Her no-nonsense response had thoroughly killed any humor he had felt. "So, what's the Angel been up to?"

"It has warped part of its body into a drill and is currently tunneling toward the Geofront," Rei answered. "It will breach the final armor layer by approximately midnight, so we must stop it before then."

"And, um, how are we going to do that?" Shinji asked.

"Captain Katsuragi has devised Operation Yashima in order to combat the Angel," Rei said. "She will brief us fully on the plan of attack later, but I have been instructed to give you an overview of the mission now."

Shinji nodded, and Rei took out a small, pocket sized notebook and started to recite the plan to him. The Third Child felt a pit of dread open up in his stomach as she spoke, but he paled when she told him that Unit Zero would be using a heat shield from an old space shuttle to protect him from the Angel.

Finishing up, the First Child put her little notebook away. "You should eat," she said, gesturing to the tray of food she'd brought. "We need to be ready to depart for the provisional base within the hour."

Shinji chuckled mirthlessly. "I don't think I ever felt _less_ like eating," he said.

"You will require nourishment," Rei said.

"Oh, I'll eat it, I just won't enjoy it," Shinji grumbled.

Apparently deciding that his enjoyment or lack thereof was not relevant, the First Child gave him a small nod and turned to leave.

"Rei," Shinji called after her just before she made it to the door.

"Yes?" she asked, turning back to face him.

"You don't have to do this, you know," he said quietly.

A frown appeared on her face. It was very slight, but it was there.

"The thing with the shield, I mean," Shinji elaborated. "You don't have to get in the path of the Angel's death beam to protect me. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"The presence of a second Evangelion to defend the sniper triples the odds of the mission ending in success," Rei pointed out.

"Um, well…" he fumbled for some good reason why Rei should sit this battle out.

"Have you devised some strategy that would make Unit Zero's contributions unnecessary?" Rei asked, looking neither offended nor even curious about Shinji's desire to keep her out of the battle.

_Oh, well, if the giant positron rifle thing doesn't work, then I can just make Unit One intangible. After the beam harmlessly goes through me, I thought I'd walk right up to the Angel, reach into it, and then rip its core right out of its body,_ Shinji thought.

"…no," he said quietly.

"I will see you when it is time for us to depart for the Mount Futago base," Rei said, then left without another word.

Watching her go, Shinji felt like the biggest coward on the face of the Earth. It had only been a few days since Rei had been able to remove the last of her bandages, and now she was going right back into the line of fire. He had the ability to make that unnecessary, but he wasn't going to use it.

"Damn it," he whispered, feeling a wave of self-loathing sweep over him. Despite this, he was still unable to convince himself to reveal his powers, even just to use them in battle against the Angels.

_If it becomes common knowledge that I'm the Ikiryo, if Uncle Ichigo finds out…I can't go home,_ he thought.

Shinji wasn't stupid or naïve enough to believe for even a moment that he'd still be welcome in his uncle's house if the man knew he was a ghost. And if he couldn't return to Ichigo Ikari's house, he couldn't return to Shinjuku-2, the only place he'd ever felt he really belonged. Tokyo-3 was a wonder of modern technology, but the whole city was clearly his father's kingdom. He couldn't make such a place his home.

The Third Child frowned as this line of thought caused a new problem to occur to him.

_What's going to happen with Rei after the war's over?_ He wondered.

He would like it if his sister could come back to Shinjuku-2 to live with him; he felt quite sure Uncle Ichigo wouldn't mind, if the man even noticed he had one more person residing at his home than normal. However, would Rei be willing to relocate to the madhouse that was the Ikari residence, which happened to be located smack dab in the middle of the "Most Haunted Town in Japan?" And even if she was, would his father let her go?

_For god's sake, worry about this later_, he told himself, rubbing his forehead.

He dressed, somewhat reluctantly donning the plug suit Rei had brought. His skin felt tender from the abuse he'd taken earlier, making the tight garment uncomfortable. Then, with even greater reluctance, he began to eat, despite his lack of an appetite. However, he refused to touch the red stuff, which he couldn't even identity. He eventually finished the meal and was ready to head out.

_All right, Ikari,_ he told himself silently as he felt the hospital room, _you can try to have your cake and eat it, too, but if it comes down to your secret being exposed or Rei dying, then it's time to make everyone aware that you're the Ikiryo._

The vow thus made, Shinji headed out, hoping he could keep it.

* * *

About an hour later, Shinji and Rei found themselves with nothing to do but sit around until it was time for the mission to commence. The Third Child felt more than a little annoyed upon realizing that NERV had given them "hurry up and wait" orders.

If there was one thing he hated doing before he had to undertake a dangerous task, it was nothing. Idleness just gave the perils he'd have to face time to grow and multiply in his mind, until they seemed insurmountable.

"It's really something, isn't it?" he asked, more to break the oppressive silence than anything else, as he gazed out at the hundreds of workers scrambling to make sure all the hardware they'd need to execute the plan was ready on time. They looked almost like ants from a distance.

Unfortunately, Rei didn't respond, apparently seeing no need to. Shinji held back a sigh and tried to keep his nerves under control, but it was difficult.

_And I have to use a gun on this damn mission, too,_ he thought dourly. _Kamiko was always the gun person in the group, not me._

"Rei?" he spoke up, feeling like he'd go crazy unless they started something that at least resembled a conversation.

"Yes?"

"Can you really do this?" he asked. "Put yourself right into the line of fire with nothing but an old heat shield from a space shuttle that never took off?"

"Yes," she replied, as if there was nothing extraordinary about that at all.

"You don't have to, you know," Shinji said. "It would be okay if you just…didn't get into position to protect me with that shield if the Angel fires."

Her blank expression shifted into a slight frown. "We have already discussed this," she said. "It would be foolish for me not to participate in this battle."

"Rei, forget about the numbers for a second," Shinji said. "If I told you that I could be sure of winning without you having to risk yourself, would you sit this battle out?"

He was careful to make the question an obviously hypothetical one, but it was still closer to admitting he had ghost powers than he really wanted to get. However, Shinji felt he had to make at least some effort to keep her from leaping into the path of the Angel's death beam if it fired.

"But you cannot be sure of victory, even if I do protect you," Rei pointed out.

"But if I _could_—" Shinji pressed.

"Such questions are irrelevant," Rei interrupted him. "I must protect you."

Shinji looked away, unable to meet her eyes. Unable to tell her that such questions really weren't as irrelevant as she believed they were.

"Do not worry," she said, and her tone seemed just a bit more gentle than before. "While I cannot guarantee my survival, or even the success of the operation, I have faith in the mission."

"Because you trust my father?" he asked, not quite able to keep the anger out of his voice.

"Yes," Rei answered simply. "But if you cannot trust him, then trust me. Your attempts to keep me out of danger are…flattering, but do not forget I am a pilot as well."

"How can you be so strong?" he asked, dismay and confusion mingling in his voice. "Is EVA—your bond to all people—really enough?"

"Yes," Rei answered.

"How?" he asked quietly. "How can it be?"

"It has to be enough," Rei said. "I have nothing else."

"Rei, that's not true. What about me? We're friends, aren't we?" Shinji asked.

The words sounded _spectacularly_ corny to the teenage boy the moment they escaped him, but they caused Rei to blink, a charming expression of surprise and confusion appearing on her face.

"Are we?" she asked.

"Well, I'd like us to be, so if you would, too, then I guess we are," he said, the words feeling very awkward to him. However, he managed to direct a small, hopefully friendly smile at her.

"I would…like that," she said.

"Then, we're friends," he said matter-of-factly.

This, Rei realized, was mission accomplished. The Commander had told her to get close to the Third Child and befriend him, and now Shinji himself had just said that they were friends. She felt a small amount of satisfaction, the kind that came with a job well done.

However, she _also_ felt an unexpected warmth in her chest. Was it because she now knew that he cared for her? How…odd.

"It's time," she said, wanting to get away from him so she could deal with these unexpected emotions in private. "We should go."

"All right," he said, getting up.

"Good-bye," she said.

He stopped on his way to Unit One, struck cold by Rei's words. "Don't say that," he told her softly.

"Why not? It is entirely possible that one of us will not survive this battle," she told him.

_And of course, if one of us croaks, it'll probably be you, the shield bearer,_ Shinji thought nervously.

"A friend once told me that if you're headed into a possibly lethal situation, you should act like you're certain you'll come back alive, even if you're not," Shinji said. "Because even if you do get killed, it's still impossible for anyone to say 'I told you so' later."

This nugget of wisdom had come from Kamiko, in an attempt to curb what she saw as her brother's "excessive pessimism."

Fumio had not been impressed, and he had contended that if they all got killed then "The _Universe_ told us so."

Rei, however, greeted the bit of philosophy with a thoughtful expression. Then the corners of her mouth quirked upwards in what Shinji abruptly realized was her approximation of a confident smile.

"I will see you after we defeat the Angel," she said.

Shinji grinned back at her. "See you then," he replied.

* * *

_The next day…_

Shinji strode through the long, winding hallways of NERV headquarters with long, purposeful strides. This felt perfectly appropriate to him, since he definitely had a purpose that morning, namely getting Rei moved into a better living space.

_It's the least I can do, after last night,_ he thought guiltily as he recalled the battle.

The Angel had fired its beam weapon at him sooner than NERV had expected it to, and Shinji had only just managed to get off a shot from the positron rifle as it did. The two beams had distorted one another's paths, and nobody had gotten hit in the first round.

Naturally, the Angel had been able to ready itself to attack again before his rifle could recharge, and Rei had had to use that shield to protect him.

Shinji could vividly remember how his plug had been utterly flooded with light while Rei held back the beam; he was practically still seeing spots whenever he closed his eyes.

_Good thing I'm apparently better with guns than I thought,_ Shinji mused. He had just been able to get a hard target lock on the Angel and kill it before Rei's shield had given out.

So, the Angel was dead, his secret remained just that, and Rei was uninjured. All in all, it was night to put into the win column, but Shinji wasn't feeling very pleased about it.

_If I'd been just a few seconds slower, Rei could have died,_ he thought guiltily, increasing his pace.

It was at this point that he arrived at the door to NERV's human resources department. Taking a deep breath, Shinji strode inside.

He was somehow surprised to discover that the place looked like a perfectly normal office, with copy machines, cubicles, and everything one might expect of such a place. The Third Child hesitated, not entirely sure how to proceed.

Meanwhile, the paper pushers were looking up at him with curious expressions, wondering why in the world an Evangelion pilot would venture to their small corner of the base.

"Can we help you, Pilot Ikari?" one of them asked.

"Ah, yes," Shinji said. "I want to talk to someone about Rei's, um, Pilot Ayanami's living arrangements. The apartment she lives in right now is dirty and unsafe."

The atmosphere in the room abruptly became very uncomfortable. Shinji could almost feel the pall his words had cast across everyone, and the place almost immediately went dead silent.

"Um, I'll, um, I'll go get our supervisor," the man who'd spoken up before said, then quickly got up and rushed to a small, nearby office.

Before Shinji even had a moment to ponder this turn of events, a thin man wearing a dark suit and a large, obviously phony smile emerged from the office.

"Ikari-san, how good to see you. Congratulations on your victory last night," he said grandly.

"Thank you," Shinji said. "But I couldn't have done it without Rei."

The supervisor's smile grew brittle. "Ah, yes, Pilot Ayanami. Well, I'm afraid anything related to her is well above my pay grade. You really need to speak with Yoshimora in the Personnel Department."

"Where is that?" Shinji asked.

"Floor 3, Section J. That's well on the other side of the base."

"Of course it is," Shinji sighed.

* * *

Unfortunately, when Shinji reached the Personnel Department, he was told that he had to go speak with the head of Section One. And the head of Section One told him he needed to speak with someone else.

This went on for hours, until Shinji, his feet killing him from tromping all over the base, figured out that he was being given the run around.

With this realization, he had decided to go straight to the top, and now he stood before the head of NERV's human resources, Haru Oshiro. The man was, as far as Shinji could gather, the king of the organization's civilian pencil pushers.

And he was as annoying as hell.

"The First Child has never complained about her living arrangements to us," Sakai said, not even looking up from the papers on his desk.

"You could fill Rei's place with a swarm of African killer bees and she probably wouldn't complain," Shinji responded. "That doesn't mean that it's okay to make her live in a place like that."

"You keep saying that her home is unlivable, but you've yet to provide any proof," Oshiro said. The man's voice was becoming more and more distant, which gave Shinji the strong impression that he was paying less and less attention to the conversation. "Am I supposed to drop everything because a fourteen-year-old boy tells me something is wrong?"

Shinji gritted his teeth and seethed. When NERV needed him, he was the most important person in the world. When they didn't, he was just a stupid kid. The injustice was staggering.

"I would expect you to show some interest when one Evangelion pilot accuses you of completely failing in your responsibilities to _another_ Evangelion pilot," the Third Child replied. "Especially when the pilot doing the accusing has half a mind to go to the Operations Director or even the Commander about this issue if you don't do something to fix it."

Shinji had hoped that the threat would finally motivate at the man to actually do something, but it didn't have the effect he intended. Rather than showing fear, Oshiro became indignant.

"Well, now, _someone_ thinks he can throw his weight around," the man said testily.

"Hey, I—"

"Mr. Ikari, you may be Unit One's pilot, but that doesn't mean that I answer to you," Oshiro said. "I won't be bullied by a child, so you can just remove yourself from my office. This conversation is over."

This all but confirmed it for Shinji. _Oh, Father is __**definitely**__ responsible for Rei's living arrangements,_ he thought. There just no other explanation for Oshiro being so unmoved by the EVA pilot's threat to go even higher up NERV's chain of command.

"All right," Shinji said. "Goodbye."

The bureaucrat didn't so much as grunt in way of response; he was apparently already lost in his paperwork.

Shinji spun on his heel and left the office without another word. He moved with quick, angry footfalls, and some of the people he passed by stared after him. A few of those were some of the people who'd given him the runaround earlier. They just shook their heads, knowing he hadn't hit pay dirt. They hoped he'd given up, since success was not achievable.

But Shinji was too tenacious for that.

_The direct approach is never the only way,_ he thought as he ducked into one of the base's restrooms.

After a quick check to make certain that no one else was in the men's bathroom, Shinji entered one of the stalls and willed himself to change. The white rings of energy appeared, sweeping over his body and changing him into his spectral form.

_Thank goodness Father at least didn't put cameras in the bathrooms, or I'd have to leave the base to go ghost,_ he thought as he willed himself to become invisible and intangible.

As undetectable as…well, a _ghost_, Shinji exited the bathroom, flying back toward Oshiro's office. Floating through the wall, the Ikiryo saw the man still bent over the papers he'd been working on. There was no one else in the room with him.

_Perfect,_ Shinji thought.

Without further ado, the ghost boy flew directly _into_ the form of Haru Oshiro. The man's eyes briefly glowed an eerie green as Shinji overshadowed him, taking control of his body from him.

"Testing, one, two…no, that's not right," he said, when the voice which came out of Oshiro's mouth was that of a fourteen-year-old boy rather than that of a full grown man. He cleared his, or rather Oshiro's throat and spoke again. "One, two, three."

This time he sounded like Oshiro rather than himself.

_Perfect,_ Shinji thought.

The ghost boy knew that this was easily his creepiest and most unnerving power, so he had always limited his use of it as much as possible. Generally, he only overshadowed someone in order to get the twins out of trouble they'd incurred for abandoning whatever they were supposed to be doing at the time in order to fight ghosts with him.

Using his overshadowing ability like this was further than he was usually willing to go, but he'd sworn not to let Rei remain in that unsafe dump of an apartment if he could do something about it.

Wearing Haru Oshiro's body like a coat, Shinji strode out of the man's office, soon locating the man's secretary. The Third Child belatedly realized that he'd never picked up her name, so he was forced to hover over her awkwardly until she realized he was standing there.

"Hello, Oshiro-san," she greeted him after a moment. "What can I do for you?"

"I want you to see to it that Pilot Ayanami is moved to a better residence," he said.

She frowned. "Sir?"

"The First Child's apartment is inadequate," he said. "I want her moved to someplace nicer. A building that's actually up to code, at least, and one in a better part of the city."

"But, sir, you said…" she hesitated, then shook her head, as if thinking better of arguing. "Of course, sir. I'll assign someone to the task right away."

"Good," Shinji replied, "that will be all."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked back into Oshiro's office. After sitting the bureaucrat back in his chair, Shinji released his hold on the man, carefully keeping himself invisible as he vacated Oshiro's body.

Freed, Oshiro blinked and looked around, clearly dazed. However, when he didn't detect anything amiss in his office, he shrugged and went back to work, completely oblivious to the orders "he" had just given.

_Well, that's one thing done,_ Shinji thought with satisfaction as he quickly departed, heading back toward the restroom to change back into his human form.

* * *

The next day found Shinji Ikari engaged in far more mundane pursuits. It was the lunch period at school, and Kensuke was enthusiastically grilling the Evangelion pilot for every possible detail about the latest battle.

Shinji was doing his best to play up how painful his first clash with the Angel had been, as well as how nerve-wracking the second confrontation had been. He wanted to dissuade the otaku from trying to become an Evangelion pilot.

Yet somehow, the Third Child didn't think he was succeeding.

"Wait, so you sniped the Angel from outside the city? Using all the power in Japan?" Kensuke asked. "_Awesome_!"

Shinji gaped stupidly at the bespectacled boy for a full three seconds before turning a desperate look at Toji.

The jock just shrugged. "Just forget it, Shin-man," he said. "The little nerd here is completely incorrigible. He's never gonna stop thinking that anything related to combat or the military is cool, no matter _what_ happens."

Toji clearly hadn't meant this as a compliment, but Kensuke chose to treat it as one anyway.

"That's right!" he exclaimed. "I'll never surrender my love of all things military!"

"See?" Toji asked Shinji. "It's completely hopeless."

Kensuke ignored the jock's remark and turned his attention to Shinji. "Hey, speaking of military stuff, have you heard anything about the Jet Alone?" he asked eagerly.

The EVA pilot shrugged. He had heard several people at NERV mention the thing, and he'd noticed that many of them seemed afraid of the implications it had for Project-E. However, he had far too much on his plate to worry about the Jet Alone.

"Isn't it some kind of giant robot that's supposed to be a rival to Evangelion?" Shinji asked.

A brief look of disappointment passed over Kensuke's face, and Shinji realized that the otaku had been hoping he might know things about the robot that weren't public knowledge.

However, Kensuke quickly became cheerful again as he realized that he would now have the pleasure of rambling about the new anti-Angel weapon.

"The Jet Alone is a pure robot, and, unlike the Evangelions, it has no pilot. It's remote controlled," he said, reaching into his backpack and plucking out a newspaper clipping to show Shinji. "It has a nuclear reactor that allows it to function continuously for up to 120 days, though why it would need to operate for _that_ long is…"

The otaku trailed off as he realized that his friend wasn't listening to him, or even pretending to listen. Instead, Shinji was staring intently at the newspaper. He was holding it up close to his face and squinting, apparently trying to make out some detail in the photograph that went with the article, which showed several of the Jet Alone's creators standing at the robot's feet.

"Shinji?" Toji spoke up. "You okay, man?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he answered, but he sounded worried and distracted. "Kensuke, can I borrow your glasses for a second?" he asked the otaku.

Though confused by the request, Kensuke shrugged and handed them over. Shinji held them up to the article, but it only took him a few seconds to realize that this wouldn't work.

"Thanks," he said, handing Kensuke his glasses back, "but I need a magnifying glass or something."

Toji and Kensuke exchanged a brief look. They were both confused, but Shinji suddenly seemed so dead serious that it stifled their urge to question him immediately.

"There's one in the library, I think. And we should have just enough time to head over there before the lunch period ends," Toji said, checking his watch.

"Cool," was all Shinji said as he got up and headed for the library.

The trio didn't exchange a word as they walked toward their destination. Something had clearly rattled the half-ghost and Evangelion pilot, and though they would never admit it, the other two boys were a little scared of whatever could do that.

The school librarian was apparently on lunch break, because they found the library empty. Unbothered by this, or by the stifling heat in the room, Shinji quickly found the desired magnifying glass laying on a table in the far corner.

The Third Child muttered something unintelligible after studying the picture for a few seconds. It might've been a curse.

Toji's curiosity finally overcame his trepidation. "What's up?" he asked.

"Take a look," Shinji said, offering him the magnifying glass.

The jock did so and soon spotted what had so riled Shinji. An odd looking man with bushy white hair, dark, square glasses, and a gray trench coat stood in the background, apparently unnoticed by everyone else in the shot. Toji thought his skin color seemed odd, too, but since the photo was in black and white, he couldn't tell for sure.

"Who the heck is that guy?" he asked Shinji as he handed the magnifying glass over to an eager Kensuke.

"That's Technus, the technology ghost," Shinji said grimly. "And if he's poking around the Jet Alone, that can only mean that he plans to take control of it for himself."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I think I hate the Fifth Angel. It's way too damn early for Shinji to be using his ghost powers in combat, so I was forced to go with what was basically the canon version of the battle. Which is why I eventually decided to skip the actual battle entirely.

Originally, I hadn't planned to have Technus show up until much later, but let's face it: the Jet Alone practically _begs_ for him to make an appearance. So expect some delightful mayhem next chapter.

Anyway, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta readers as well. Now enough of my rambling, let's have some fun.

* * *

Omake

Too Much is Never Enough! (Except when it is)

The Angel kept its deadly beam weapon trained upon Unit One's chest as it sank back down toward the safety of the Geofront, until it was hitting only the street. It had shot straight through a building to hit Unit One, and with the termination of the beam, the remains of the structure collapsed into a pathetic looking heap of melted metal and glass.

"The target's gone silent," Aoba announced, amazed.

"What's the pilot's status?" Misato demanded.

"He's alive," Makoto said. "But his brainwaves are extremely erratic. Cardiac readings are very weak."

"Increase power to the life support systems," Ritsuko commanded. "Give him a heart massage!"

Inside the plug, Shinji's unconscious body jerked as the small defibrillator built into the chest of his plug suit went off.

On a readout before Makoto, a series of lines showing Shinji's EKG readings jerked abruptly, but then quickly flat-lined again.

"No response!"

"Again!" Ritsuko barked.

Once again, Shinji's body jerked.

"No response!"

"_Again_!" Ritsuko practically screamed.

His plug suit shocked him for a third time, finally having results. Shinji took a deep inhalation of LCL and opened his eyes, groaned.

"Wow," he said. "Thought I was a goner there for a second. Thank you, Ritsuko—"

"Again!"

"_Gah!_" Shinji screamed, just before passing out again.

"_Damn it, Ritsuko!_" Misato roared. "Why the hell do you always have to overdo everything like that?"

"Heh, heh, sorry," Ritsuko said sheepishly.

"And _you!_" Misato said, whirling to glare at Makoto. "Why the _hell_ did you actually shock him again when she told you to?"


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Hijacking an Iron Giant**

It was a dreary day in Tokyo-3.

The sky above was overcast, with not a trace of blue to be seen through the steely gray layer of clouds. There was no rain in the forecast, but a sudden downpour wouldn't have surprised the city's citizens in the least. They almost would've welcomed it, in fact; a shower might've provided some relief from the oppressive humidity.

Of course, the relentless noise of construction, which had become a fixture in Tokyo-3 ever since the war against the Angels had begun, continued without delay.

Even so, despite all of this, Shinji Ikari was in a good mood. After all, he was about to help Rei move out of her awful old apartment.

Arriving at her door, he initially moved to press her doorbell, before remembering that it was broken. Rolling his eyes, Shinji rapped sharply on the door with his knuckles. "Rei?" he called. "It's me, Shinji. Are you ready to go?"

The door opened a moment later, and Shinji found himself face to face with the First Child. Rei was holding a pair of small, battered looking suitcases.

"I have finished packing," she announced without preamble.

Frowning, Shinji looked over her shoulder, gazing into the apartment. While he did notice that Rei apparently hadn't bothered to clean up (not that he supposed it made much difference; it seemed unlikely in the extreme that anyone else would ever rent the decrepit apartment), Shinji was unable to locate any trace of more bags.

"Is that everything?" he asked dubiously, gesturing toward the pair of suitcases she held.

He realized that Rei wasn't exactly a packrat, but just two small suitcases seemed like too little, even for her. _Heck, it's not like I have a lot of junk either, and it __**still**__ took a few boxes to move all my stuff,_ he thought.

Rei, it seemed, was even more of a minimalist than he'd imagined. "Yes," was her simple answer to his question. "Should we go now?"

"Oh, sure," Shinji said, quickly getting out of the doorway so Rei could exit. "Here, let me take one of those." He accepted one of the suitcases from her.

They left Rei's old apartment building and were soon walking down the street. Shinji had expected that they'd hail a cab at this point, but that had been when he'd believed his half-sister would have substantially more luggage. It seemed silly to bother with one when they only had one bag apiece, especially since Rei's new apartment wasn't that far away from her old one.

"So," Shinji began after a few minutes of walking in silence, "what do you think about the move?"

"It is…unexpected," Rei answered.

"Unexpected?"

Rei nodded. "Yes. I lived at my former home for some time, but NERV did not see a need to move me until now."

Shinji forced back a smile. She didn't know that he was the one behind her change of residence, or even that he'd protested her old living arrangement.

Frankly, he saw no real need to tell her about it, either. "Maybe they just decided that you deserved someplace better to live," he said. "Are you excited about the move?"

"Not particularly," Rei answered. "I was ordered to move, so I will."

Even though he knew that this sort of response from her shouldn't surprise him by now, Shinji was still taken aback by the First Child's utter lack of enthusiasm for her new home. "You're not excited at all to be going someplace nicer?" he asked.

"My previous residence was sufficient," was Rei's simple, curt response.

"Okay, but isn't it nice to move to some place that's more than sufficient?" Shinji pressed.

"It is agreeable."

_Well, I guess that's the best I'm going to get out of her,_ he thought, suppressing a sigh.

They arrived at Rei's new apartment building a few minutes later, and Shinji was quietly amazed at how little distance they had to cross to move from one of the worst parts of the city to one of the better ones. Nonetheless, he kept these comments to himself as they entered the structure.

_I should've had them move Rei into the same building as Misato and me when I was overshadowing Oshiro,_ Shinji mused regretfully. _Goodness knows there's plenty of room in the place. I think me and Misato are the only two residents!_

While he was thinking about this, Rei was still making a beeline for her new home. Shinji snapped out of his thoughts just in time to see her approaching the door to the building's main stairwell.

"What are you doing, Rei?" he asked her.

"I am going to my new apartment," she answered, as though it was obvious.

"Rei, your apartment is on the sixth floor," Shinji replied. "I'd rather not climb up all those stairs if I don't have to, especially when we're carrying your stuff."

"I do not see an alternative," she said.

By way of reply, Shinji silently pointed at the elevator in the lobby.

Rei's eyes widened; the Third Child didn't think he'd ever seen her look so surprised before. "It works?" she asked, her normally impassive tone turning incredulous.

"I'd assume so," Shinji said mildly, even as he silently damned his father all over again. Walking over to the elevator, he pressed the button to call the car; a moment later, the doors slid open. "After you," Shinji said, gesturing for Rei to enter.

Minutes later, they were entering Rei's new home. The Third Child quickly took off his shoes and deposited them near the door. Rei didn't, and he nearly told her to do so before stopping himself.

It was _her_ home, after all.

"Nice place," he commented, looking around.

It was certainly cleaner than her old home. Larger, too. The apartment had plain white walls and was minimally furnished, with a bed, a dresser, a table, and a couple of chairs. Beyond that, the place was empty.

Without a word, Rei opened her suitcases and began to unpack. Shinji was somehow disheartened to see that the First Child hadn't had anything to bring from her previous home besides her small wardrobe, which seemed to consist almost entirely of school uniforms.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"If you wish," she replied.

Shaking his head, Shinji joined her in the task of transferring her clothing to the dresser, though he made a point of not touching her undergarments. It only took a few minutes before they were finished.

_Unpacking into your new home should not take so little time,_ he thought, looking around. Despite being cleaner and safer than her old home, Rei's new place was so utterly bare that it managed to be just as depressing as her old apartment.

The look of displeasure on his face must've been apparent, because Rei commented on it. "Are you all right?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine," he said. "I was just thinking that this place really needs some decoration."

"Why?" Rei asked.

"Why?" Shinji echoed dumbly, finding he had no idea how to explain something that seemed so obvious to him. He settled for shrugging. "It just…does."

"I see," Rei replied in that perfectly neutral tone she was so infuriatingly good at. "How am I to decorate my new home?"

Shinji didn't respond immediately; _he_ didn't know much about decorating, either. However, he thought about his room, mentally going over the stuff inside that helped give it personality. His thoughts drifted to pictures of his friends and the movie posters from the various horror flicks he'd seen with the Kasuga twins. "Well, that depends," he said. "What do you like? I mean, what do you like to do with your free time?"

The ghost of a frown passed over Rei's face, and she didn't reply. It didn't take Shinji long to realize that she simply had no answer for him.

"You think on it, okay?" he said. "I have to go. I'll see you later."

Rei nodded. "Good-bye."

Shinji left the apartment, getting all the way to the street outside the building before he allowed himself to heave a heavy sigh. Whenever he spent time with Rei, it only became more and more apparent how little she'd been allowed to learn about the world and life in general. He didn't want to be the one to have to teach her all that, especially since he didn't think he was really the best person for that job.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anyone else to do it.

Shinji shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Trying to help his sister was a hard enough task on its own.

Alas, it was _far_ from the only thing on his agenda.

* * *

Shiro Tokita was well pleased with himself.

Years ago, when the Jet Alone robot had been just an idea on the drawing board, no one had seriously believed that Nippon Heavy Chemical Industries had a prayer of breaking NERV's stranglehold on military spending. Certain individuals had even openly laughed at the idea that it was possible for NHCI to get a piece of the action in the Angel wars.

Tokita hadn't been willing to accept that, but he'd known that he couldn't orchestrate NERV's undoing on his own. Fortunately, he'd found willing partners in the JSSDF, who disliked the shadowy, paramilitary group that was headquartered beneath Tokyo-3 on principle.

_And now it's all coming to fruition;_ _after so much time and effort, tomorrow's finally the day,_ he mused as he entered the enormous warehouse where the currently silent Jet Alone was waiting patiently.

"Tokita-san," one of the guards greeted him, surprised, "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"I just knew I wouldn't be able to sleep without checking on her one last time," he replied, doing his best not to let his giddiness show.

Tokita then made his way through the warehouse to a small control room that was separated from the mammoth amount of storage space within the building. A lone technician was working within. "How is she, Kimura-chan?" Tokita asked.

The young woman smiled without looking away from her screen. "I still don't understand why you insist on referring to the Jet Alone as a she, Tokita-san," she remarked. "There never seemed to be anything feminine about it to me. It certainly isn't pretty."

"I can see her inner beauty," Tokita replied, "because I'm not a superficial man."

Kimura rolled her eyes, smirking. "I'm just working out a last-minute bug."

Tokita frowned, his good mood evaporating instantly. "Last-minute bug? Kimura, the demonstration is tomorrow," he said. "Everyone in the military who _matters_ is going to be watching. We can't have bugs showing up."

"Relax, Tokita-san," Kimura said. "I'll have it fixed within the hour."

"Are you sure?" Tokita asked, clearly worried. "Everything comes down to tomorrow, Kimura."

"Yes, I _know_," she said. "I told you to relax. I'll have it fixed soon. It's not like it's a big deal anyway, just a little ghost in the machine."

* * *

"I hate this damn thing," Misato decided the next morning as she studied the reflection in her mirror.

The formal NERV uniform she'd received upon joining the organization was something she'd always detested. It had never fit quite right, and the penny pinchers at NERV had always refused to pay to have it tailored. There was too much black in it, too, in her opinion. Normally, Misato liked black; she looked good in it, but the damn uniform looked like something she would wear to a funeral.

Plus, it _itched!_

"As if this whole day wasn't doomed to be awful already," she grumbled.

Well, at least she'd get to see Shinji's look of shock when she emerged from her room, dressed to the nines and wide awake rather than still wearing her pajamas and half asleep. If nothing else, she would obtain _some_ form of entertainment!

Forcing herself to ignore the damnable itching, she opened the door to her room and walked out into the kitchen. Shinji was sitting at the table, eating toast.

"Good morning, Misato," he said to her, not batting an eye at her appearance.

Misato twitched. "Why aren't you surprised?" she demanded as the only thing she'd been looking forward to that day failed to materialize. "Aren't you even a little bit curious why I'm in this stupid formal getup?"

Shinji took another bite of his toast. "You're going to the Jet Alone demonstration thing, right?" he asked, looking mildly surprised that she'd expected him to be unaware of the event.

"How'd you know about that?"

Shinji shrugged. "Everybody at the base has been talking about it for weeks," he said. "It would've been harder to not find out about it."

"Oh," Misato said, crestfallen. "Okay, then. I'm going to be gone until late tonight. Don't wait up for me, okay?"

"Sure," he replied.

Grumbling softly to herself about teenagers who were obnoxiously smart, the Ops Director departed from the apartment.

The moment she was gone, Shinji sprang into action. Rising from the table, he willed himself to transform, and the white rings of light immediately came into being, sweeping over his form and bringing his ghostly side to the fore. The moment this was done, Shinji Ikiryo used his duplicating ability to split himself in two.

No words were necessary at this point; Shinji didn't need to speak with himself, after all. One of him quickly went both invisible and intangible, leaving the apartment. The other silently reverted back to his human form, sat down at the table again, and resumed eating his breakfast.

_I swear, the ability to be in two places at once has __**got**__ to be the most useful power I have,_ Shinji decided silently.

Then he noticed Pen-Pen. The warm water penguin was standing on the floor and looking at the Third Child with an expression of utter shock and disbelief on his avian face, a half eaten sardine dangling from his beak.

Smiling, Shinji winked at the bird and raised a finger to his lips. "Shh…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Kensuke Aida was _not_ on his way to school as he normally would have been. Instead, he was hopping a train that would take him to Old Tokyo.

"Thanks a lot for taking me to see this, Grandpa," he said, an excited grin plastered to his face. "I know you had to call in a few favors to get us invited."

The eldest of the Aida men smiled down at his grandson and put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I know how much you like these things," he said, eyes twinkling. "Your father doesn't approve of you cutting school like this, but sometimes a boy your age just needs to have fun."

Kensuke ventured a smile back, but it was forced. Normally, he would've been bursting with excitement at getting to go see the Jet Alone demonstration, but observing an awesome new piece of military hardware was – shockingly – _second_ on his list of priorities.

No, today, Kensuke Aida had _a mission_.

* * *

_A few days ago…_

"Geeze, Shin-man, you don't look so good," was the first thing Toji said when he saw the Third Child that morning.

"Thank you, Toji," Shinji replied with a rueful smirk as he practically collapsed in his desk. "How long 'til class starts? Think I'll have enough time for a quick catnap?" he mumbled, putting his head down on his desk.

"Dang Ikari, late night of pilot exercises at NERV?" Kensuke asked, taking a wild guess at the reason for the dark circles under his friend's eyes.

"Nah," Shinji yawned, then looked around to see if anybody was watching them. When he saw that no one was, he continued on in a quieter tone. "I snuck out of Misato's apartment last night and flew to Old Tokyo, looking for Technus."

"Any luck?" Kensuke asked eagerly.

Shinji shook his head. "None. My ghost sense didn't go off at all."

"So what's that mean?" Toji asked.

"Either he wasn't there, which means he was just scouting things out when his picture was taken…or he's hidden himself really well," Shinji said. The boy then shrugged, resigned to his failure. "Doesn't really make a difference which one it is. The bottom line is that I can't find him."

"Okay, so what's our next move?" Kensuke asked.

Shinji rubbed at his eyes. "Well, if Technus hasn't taken over the Jet Alone yet, then…" The superhero rolled his neck, trying to work out a kink in it. "Maybe it means that he can't turn it on himself," he reasoned.

"Which means he'll have to wait until the demonstration," Toji deduced.

"Bingo," Shinji said, "so I'll have to be there, waiting for him."

"Man, this is complicated," Toji said, scratching his head. "What did you normally do when this guy showed up in Shinjuku-2?"

Shinji chuckled. "Usually when Technus made an appearance back home, he'd just barge into an electronics store and make himself a body out of DVD players and TVs," he said, grimacing at the prospect of Technus 'upgrading'. "The whole 'nuclear-powered death-bot' thing is kind of outside my experience."

"Now that's reassuring," Toji grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Shinji resisted the urge to snap at the jock and turned back to Kensuke. "I would really, _really_ like to get to Technus before he takes over the Jet Alone, and having another person there looking for him would make my job a lot easier," he said. "Think there's any chance you could get to the demonstration?"

"Me? You're asking _me_ to help you?" Kensuke asked, an expression of mingled excitement and disbelief on his face.

"After what happened with Yoshi and Kitty?" Toji added, looking very dubious about the whole thing. "No offense, but wouldn't it be better if I went and did lookout for you?"

"Hey!" Kensuke hissed.

Shinji ignored the otaku. "Well, that depends," he said to Toji. "Do you think _you_ can get to the Jet Alone demonstration without anyone thinking it's weird that you even want to see it?"

The morning bell saved Toji from having to answer this one, which was lucky for him, because he had no good answer to give the Third Child. However, once the teacher had gotten deep into his usual Second Impact lecture, the jock surreptitiously leaned toward Shinji.

"Ikari, did you ask for Ken's help just to cheer him up?" Toji whispered.

Shinji shrugged. "He _has_ been pretty down in the dumps lately…"

* * *

_Present Day…_

"Say, Ritsuko, do you feel like someone's…watching us?" Misato asked, looking around nervously.

The bottle blonde frowned in confusion. "Who could possibly be watching us up here?" she asked. "It's just the two of us and the pilot."

The Project-E chairperson and the Operations Director were both currently en route to the site of the JA demonstration in Old Tokyo, using one of NERV's transport helicopters to easily reach the partially sunken former capital. It should've been the calmest part of their day, but Misato found herself looking over her shoulder every few minutes.

"I…I don't know who could be watching us," she confessed, sounding just as bewildered as her friend felt. "It's just that my skin's been crawling ever since we got in here, and I keep thinking that there's somebody right behind me. It's driving me nuts!"

The scientist turned her head, looking out the window at the ground below. "I'm sure it's just nerves," she said. "NERV could be in some real trouble if this demonstration goes well, after all."

Silently, however, the scientist began to wonder if there might not be a camera or something planted in the helicopter. She had no idea why Gendo would put one in such a location, but she'd definitely been having that "goose walked over my grave" feeling herself.

In the back seat of the helicopter, Shinji Ikiryo winced and mouthed a silent apology to his guardian. When he'd decided to hitch a ride to the JA demonstration by becoming invisible and following Misato, he'd had no idea that she was so sensitive to the presence of ghosts.

_Well, we're just outside Old Tokyo, anyway,_ he thought. _I guess I don't have to creep them out anymore._

The Ikiryo departed from the aircraft and started to fly the rest of the way under his own power, being careful to stay invisible the whole time.

_Now all I have to do is get by the Jet Alone and wait,_ Shinji thought. _Wait…and hope I can find Technus before they hit the on button!_

Meanwhile, Misato and Ritsuko both relaxed as the invisible, half-ghost boy put distance between himself and them. Neither one of them consciously realized that whatever was disturbing them both had departed, but their tense postures eased all the same, and their hearts beat a little more slowly.

They had no idea what the day had in store for them.

* * *

Kensuke Aida was bored.

All things considered, he found this absolutely amazing. He was, after all, at the unveiling ceremony for a giant robot, a new piece of cutting edge military hardware. Not only that, but he was on an important mission! It should've been the most exciting day of his life!

_Yeah, right,_ he thought.

Until the demonstration actually began, the whole event was just one big, stuffy party. There weren't even a whole lot of real soldiers around; government bureaucrats and corporate business types were far more prevalent, and the few officers that were present wanted nothing to do with the kid who'd somehow managed to finagle an invite.

_And I'm seeing as much action here as I would in school, listening to Sensei's lectures,_ he thought, suppressing a scowl.

Carefully glancing around the room to make sure that no one was paying attention to him (even though no one had glanced his way since he'd entered the large room), Kensuke reached into his pocket and withdrew the miniature Specter Detector. Unlike the full-sized version, which was nearly as big as a laptop, this one could be mistaken for a cell phone. However, it was a lot less precise than the bigger one.

_Not that it makes much difference,_ he thought, giving the gadget a shake. _This thing hasn't so much as beeped once._

"Hello?" he whispered, tapping the pair of Ikari phones he was wearing to turn them on. "You there, man?"

There was a pause before Shinji's voice came crackling over the 'phones. "**I'm here,**" he said. "**You see anything?**"

"Nope," Kensuke replied. "I was hoping you had."

"**I see,**" Shinji replied, sounding mildly annoyed. This was the sixth time Kensuke had called to report that nothing was happening. "**Well, let me know if the detector goes off.**"

"Right," the otaku replied before cutting the connection.

With a small sigh, he dutifully began another circuit around the huge room, hoping the gizmo concealed in his pocket would go off and end the monotony. Unfortunately, he had no such luck, and unwilling to bear the thought of making still another lap around the grand ballroom, he finally came to a stop and looked around idly.

Kensuke frowned, immediately noticing something peculiar. The room was packed full of important people, but an area near the center was seemingly deserted. Everyone appeared to be giving one of the tables a wide berth. Curious, the otaku approached the empty zone, squeezing through the loitering crowds. It took him a few moments, but he eventually managed to make it to the little clearing and see who was inside.

His mood brightened considerably.

"Misato-san!" he exclaimed, a huge grin spreading over his face.

Unlike the woman herself, he thought she looked _very_ good in that formal uniform.

"Aida?" she blinked, looking more than a little surprised at his appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, my grandfather is a retired JSDF officer," Kensuke explained. "He knew I really wanted to see this, and he managed to wrangle us an invitation."

"I see," Misato replied. "Where is he now?" she asked, craning her neck and looking around.

"He ran into some old army buddy of his a while ago, and they've been talking about old times ever since," Kensuke answered, shaking his head ruefully. "I could probably present the Jet Alone myself without him noticing."

"Well, it's certainly nice to see a friendly face here. Why don't you join us?" Misato offered. "There's _plenty_ of room at our table, as you can see." She added, grumbling.

_Score!_ Kensuke thought.

"Well, if you insist," the otaku said, doing his best to sound cool and not show just how giddy he was at the invitation.

"The blonde here is my friend Ritsuko Akagi," Misato introduced him as he sat down. "Rits, this Kensuke Aida. He's a friend of Shinji's."

"Nice to meet you," Ritsuko said politely.

Kensuke's grin widened further. This new woman wasn't in quite the same league as Misato, but she wasn't exactly hard on the eyes, either. "You, too," he replied. "So, I'm guessing you're also a member of NERV?"

"Yes," Ritsuko nodded. "I'm the Head of Technical Division One."

By this point, the bespectacled youth was having a hard time believing his luck. His only conundrum was wondering what he should do first: attempt to make a move on Misato, ask Ritsuko for details about the Evangelion project, or lobby both of them to make him an EVA pilot.

He was so excited by the possibilities that he could barely think, but after a couple of seconds, he managed to get his priorities straight.

_Ask to be a pilot first. Then, once you are, they'll have to tell you all about EVA, __**and**__ you'll get to see Misato all the time!_ He decided.

Concluding that this logic was flawless in every way, the otaku opened his mouth to put his plan into action…only to be interrupted before he could even begin by the beeping of the Specter Detector crammed inside his pocket.

_No! Not now!_ He thought despairingly. Five minutes ago, he would've been overjoyed at it going off. Of course, five minutes ago he hadn't been sharing a table with Misato, NERV's head scientist, and _no one else_.

Of course, it wasn't long before the Ops Director noticed the gadget was going off. "Ah, Aida, it sounds like your…pants are beeping," she observed.

"Oh, yeah, that always happens when I'm around beautiful women like you." Beat. "Well, bye!" he exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and running off.

Misato didn't acknowledge his farewell, which was probably for the better. Kensuke did, however, hear Ritsuko laughing her ass off as he rushed off, and his face reddened.

_What in the __**world**__ made me say __**that?**_He wondered, burning with mortification. _Damn it, Shinji, you better appreciate what I'm doing for you here!_

Not that ignoring the Specter Detector had been a real option, regardless of how much he would've liked to. That would've been dereliction of duty, which wasn't acceptable under the best of circumstances. Which Kensuke wasn't exactly in, considering that his blunders last time had allowed Kitty to escape.

He took the Specter Detector out of his pocket and held it up, as though he were trying to get a cell phone signal. He was soon rewarded as the little device pointed him in the right direction.

"Shinji?" he whispered, tapping the Ikari phones as he squeezed through the crowd.

"**Yes?**" the half ghost replied, in a tone of barely restrained irritation.

"The detector's picking something up," Kensuke reported eagerly.

"**Where?**" Shinji asked eagerly.

"Um, I'm in the grand ballroom, or whatever they call it," the otaku replied. "I haven't really been able to—"

"_**Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the official unveiling of the Jet Alone All Purpose Robotic Weapons Platform!**_" erupted a voice from the room's plethora of speakers, startling Kensuke.

"**What was that?**" Shinji asked sharply.

"They're starting the demonstration," Kensuke hissed.

Shinji cursed. "**Already? Keep on him, Ken. Don't lose him!**"

"Roger!" Kensuke replied, and continued making his way through the densely packed crowd.

The sandy-haired youth had somehow expected that the Specter Detector would either lead him straight to the techno-ectoplasmic entity he was looking for, or a person sitting at one of the tables in the huge room. Instead, however, the thing led him out of the room entirely, taking him into one of the adjoining hallways. Now out of the crowd, Kensuke forced himself to moderate his pace, lest he draw undue attention to himself.

_Where the hell is this ghost?_ He wondered, bewildered. _And why isn't he by the actual robot?_

"**Kensuke, talk to me,**" Shinji's voice crackled over the earbuds he was wearing. "**Did you find him? Where's he headed?**"

"I'm not sure," Kensuke replied. "This mini-detector of yours isn't very exact. I'm just trying not to lose him in the halls."

"**Stay on him, Ken,**" Shinji said. "**I'm heading toward you right now.**"

"I'll try," he said uncertainly, as he frantically moved about, trying to figure out exactly which hallway the signal was strongest in.

_Damn, this kind of thing is a lot less fun when it's happening in real life!_ He thought, noting the way the situation was causing his heart to beat at a fast pace. The tension and his fears of failing his mission were…unpleasant.

Finally, he got lucky, and the Specter Detector was able to pick up a particularly strong signal. Too wired on adrenaline to worry about things like stealth, Kensuke bolted down the hallway as quickly as he could.

It wasn't long before he managed to catch sight of someone else, but it wasn't a ghost. Instead, it was a very normal looking man, wearing black pants, a white button-up shirt, and a tie. _Probably works for NHCI_, Kensuke decided immediately.

Yet despite how ordinary the man looked, just getting within sight of him caused the detector to go crazy. Even so, Kensuke was about to conclude that his presence was a coincidence—that the man just happened to be in the same area as Technus—when the otaku noticed just how _clumsy_ the guy was.

He seemed to trip over his own feet with every other step, and when this happened, he reached out with his arms to try and regain his balance. The latter action wasn't all that strange, except that he kept reaching too far and jamming his fingers into the walls, which resulted in some painful cursing.

Kensuke frowned as he watched the strange spectacle. _It's like the guy's not used to wearing his own skin,_ he mused.

Then his eyes widened as he remembered what Shinji himself described as his most unsettling ghost power: he had the ability to 'overshadow' people.

_That guy's possessed!_ He thought. _It must be Technus!_

The otaku wished that he could confront the ghost, but, unfortunately, he had no weapons with him. Shinji had steadfastly refused to let him bring one to the demonstration. The half-ghost had said that it was because he was afraid Kensuke would be caught with it and be kicked out (not to mention having to explain it to his grandfather somehow), but the otaku had a sneaking suspicion that Shinji didn't trust him with an ecto-pistol anymore.

So instead of fighting, he was forced to withdraw, retreating around a corner. Once out of sight, he tapped the Ikari phones again.

"Shinji," he whispered, "I found him, I think. It looks like he overshadowed some guy."

"**Where is he headed?**" the Ikiryo asked urgently.

"Uhh…" Kensuke peeked around the corner just in time to see the man swipe a card through a reader before entering a clearly restricted room. His eyes widened when he saw the sign on the door. "He just went into the control room."

"**Damn!**" Shinji swore. "_**That's **_**why I didn't catch a whiff of Technus out by the Jet Alone! He intends to invade the damn thing from there!**"

"What should I do?" Kensuke asked fearfully.

"**Just sit tight,**" Shinji said. "**I should be there in just a second. How much time do we have?**"

The otaku paused a second to consider. The half-ghost's earlier assumption about Technus needing the NHCI people to turn the Jet Alone on before he made his move seemed to be holding true, so the real question was how long it would be until then.

"I think we should be okay," he said. "The presenter only started speaking a couple of minutes ago, so unless he's a fast talker—"

He didn't finish his sentence before he felt a mild but noticeable tremor in the floor beneath him.

_Okay, either the Jet Alone just put its foot down, or this is a tiny earthquake,_ he told himself. _It could be a small earthquake. It could!_

Before he could nurture this desperate hope any further, the otaku heard a long series of maniacal cackles coming from the control room. They were accompanied by the sounds of several people crying out in terror.

Kensuke sighed. "Damn it."

* * *

"Oh, look, it's walking," Misato commented, gazing up at the screen that was displaying the huge robot.

Shiro Tokita, the man in charge of the demonstration, ignored the NERV Operations Director and her dismissive tone. She was simply jealous, and he knew it. No longer would NERV, a shadowy paramilitary organization, have the sole responsibility of defending the world from the Angels. It was time to bring that all important struggle out into the light by allowing the regular military to conduct it.

_All while making massive amounts of money for the company,_ he thought, allowing just a small smile to form on his face.

Naturally, it was at this exact moment that everything went horribly wrong.

_**"Hahahahahahaha!"**_ Crazed cackling burst forth from the speakers that were hung all around the room.

"What the hell is that?" Tokita hissed, turning to one of his assistants. "Kimura, where is that voice coming from?"

There were several NHIC employees working at a cluster of laptops in the grand ballroom, situated near his podium. They were mostly there for show, with the actual control room doing the work of guiding the JA, but at least they could monitor the robot.

"Something's wrong," the lead tech reported, looking increasingly nervous with every bit of data that her computer delivered to her. "The firewalls and other security measures in the Jet Alone's programming are being disabled, and the control room crew isn't reporting in."

Tokita's eyes widened. "Do you mean…?"

Kimura nodded gravelly. "We've been hacked. We're no longer in control of the Jet Alone."

Tokita swore.

**"**_**Ladies and gentlemen,**_**"** the voice of the hacker boomed from the loudspeaker, **"**_**your scheduled demonstration of this **_**magnificent**_** robot has been interrupted! By me! Nicolai Technus, the greatest genius who ever lived…or died! Now that I control the Jet Alone, all the advanced technology in this entire nation is mine for taking!**_**"**

With another cacophony of maniacal laughter, the hacker ended his message to the assembled crowd.

The effect of the bizarre speech, was of course, predicable. Pandemonium erupted inside the ballroom as nearly everyone scrambled to be the first to get out and head back to the helipad. _Nobody_ wanted to be around while some clearly unhinged criminal had control of the giant nuclear-powered robot. Within seconds, the only members of the audience who remained were the NERV party and an older gentleman in an ill-fitting JSDF officer's uniform.

The latter seemed to be searching for his grandson. Tokita ignored him and turned back to Kimura.

"Send the shut down codes," he ordered. "Turn the Jet Alone off."

"I've been trying, boss," Kimura said tersely, not taking her eyes off her monitor. "Whoever's stolen control from us has also managed to cut off all our wireless connections to the JA's main computer. We can't communicate with the system at all."

Tokita resisted the urge to swear very loudly. "Trace the hacker's signal," he ordered. "Find out where that bastard is!"

"I…I can't even _pick up_ the signal," Kimura admitted after a few moments, voice unsteady with fear and disbelief. "It's like it's not even there."

This was apparently enough for the NERV Operations Director, and she strode toward him purposefully, a determined expression on her face. Tokita braced himself for the inevitable 'I told you so' from her.

To his relief, it didn't come.

"If this Technus person is serious about raiding high technology, then he'll head for Tokyo-3 first," she said, her tone completely business-like.

Tokita didn't even bother pointing out that actually _stealing_ anything with the Jet Alone was virtually impossible. Destruction, certainly. Theft, not so much. But Technus seemed just crazy enough to have failed to factor that into his plan. "Probably," he agreed.

"I'm going to order NERV to deploy Unit One to engage the Jet Alone and disable it," the Ops Director proclaimed.

Tokita had to bite back his initial response, which was to loudly object at the prospect of one of the Evangelions being unleashed to harm his baby. "That might not be the best idea," he said instead.

"And why is that?" Katsuragi demanded, fixing him with an intense gaze.

Tokita sighed. "The Jet Alone has a suicide protocol, in case it's defeated by an Angel, and I'll bet anything that our insane hacker activated it," he explained. "In the event of critical systems failure, the reactor overheats and melts down. There'll be a nuclear explosion."

Katsuragi frowned. "How do we deactivate the suicide protocol?" she asked.

Tokita ran a hand through his dark hair. "We could do it from here if Technus hadn't severed our connection to the Jet Alone's onboard computer," he said. "As it is, the only way to deactivate it would be…would be to physically go _inside_ the JA and do it from there!"

"Then that's what I'll do," Katsuragi said, as if it was that simple.

"Are you insane?" Tokita shrilled. "This Technus will never let you just waltz into it and pull the off switch! Besides, the interior of the JA is a radiatioactive hot zone right now! We really didn't design it for people to go crawling around in it on a regular basis!"

"Just give me the password to turn off the suicide protocol, and I'll clean up the mess your company made," Katsuragi said with a scowl, crossing her arms over her chest.

Tokita sighed, knowing the divulging that information—especially to a NERV officer—could easily get him fired. Not only that, but he'd always prided himself on being a loyal company man; he was loathe to give her the password on principle.

However, he knew how long it would take to get the higher-ups to give him approval to tell Katsuragi, if they even did at all. Half of downtown Tokyo-3 would be a burning crater by then.

"Hope," he said reluctantly, almost mumbling. "The password is 'hope'."

"Thank you," Katsuragi said sincerely, then spun on her heel and began to leave without a further word, off to prepare for the insane mission she'd given herself.

During this whole exchange, no one had noticed that a pair of teenagers was eavesdropping on the whole thing; the far door had been opened just a crack, and their eyes could just barely be seen peeking through.

"Wow, the more I learn about Misato-san, the more I realize just how awesome she truly is," Kensuke swooned.

Shinji rolled his eyes in exasperation and quietly shut the door. "She's headed right into a death trap!" he hissed quietly, but with great vehemence. "They think that somebody else is remote controlling the Jet Alone from somewhere, but Technus is _inside_ the thing now! If she actually makes it in, she's toast!"

"Oh. That's bad," Kensuke said with a grimace.

"Yeah," Shinji agreed. "I need to get inside that robot, and fast. Only problem is, I don't think I'm immune to radiation."

"There _has_ to be a rad suit around here somewhere," Kensuke said, with such certainly that Shinji automatically believed him. "Let's split up and see if we can find one."

Shinji nodded. "We have to, and before Misato's tries to board that damn robot," he said. "Her life depends on it."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I was planning to have this chapter go until the whole Jet Alone thing had been resolved, but it was getting long, and my muse started failing me, so this seemed like a good place to stop.

Really don't have much else to say here, so, as always, thanks to all my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta readers as well.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Techno Terror**

Finding the radiation suit hadn't been the hard part.

No, that had been surprisingly easy. Whether by sheer dumb luck or actual knowledge of the procedures regarding such things, Kensuke had managed to locate the place where the company kept them in minutes.

Indeed, not only had the otaku managed to find the right place, but he'd recognized it when they found it, too. Shinji knew with absolute certainty that he wouldn't have been able to do that, mostly because he hadn't realized what the little symbol of the man in the bulky suit was supposed to be.

It had looked like a snowman to him.

No, finding the rad suit hadn't been the hard part.

The hard part was _moving_ in the damn thing.

"Ah, geeze, are you sure there aren't any smaller ones in here?" Shinji asked, struggling to contain his growing frustration and anxiety.

"Yes, already," Kensuke grumbled. "Now hold still, or you'll tear the thing and we'll have to start all over again."

All the suits were simply too damn large for the teenage ghost boy. If Shinji had been Toji's height, then the smaller ones might've been workable, but the jock was almost a full head taller than he was.

So instead, they were forced to improvise. Inside the cramped storage room where the suits were kept, Shinji had put on the smallest one he could find, and Kensuke was frantically putting knots into it, trying to eat up as much of the extra material as possible.

"The arms and legs still feel too long," Shinji complained.

"I'm sure they do, but that's as good as this is going to get, I think," the bespectacled youth replied shortly. Clearly, the romance of playing covert operative had long since worn off for him. He sighed. "Look, we knew this was never going to be perfect."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Shinji agreed, opening and closing his fingers. Even the gloves were too big for him. "And we don't have a whole lot of time. I should head out." He put on the helmet, making sure it was attached firmly to the rest of the suit.

Kensuke nodded, his annoyance at the frustrating situation very quickly leaving his demeanor. He looked serious. If Shinji hadn't known better, he might've thought that his new friend was finally realizing that this was real, that Misato's life was in actual danger.

"Good luck, man," he said.

Shinji was aware that he should probably say something pithy and heroic in response to that. Something deep also would've been appropriate, but nothing good came to mind.

"Thanks," he replied instead, and headed out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Shinji Ikari sat on one of the biggest planes ever constructed—an Evangelion carrier—trying not to show just how anxious he was. This Shinji Ikari was, currently, a different Shinji Ikari from the one who was heading out to do battle with Technus in ghost form, but he was no less real for it.

_You know, I really like being able to duplicate myself,_ he thought, biting on his lower lip. _I really do. God knows how much harder it would be to keep up the whole secret identity thing if I couldn't do it, but sometimes…_

Sometimes it was just unnerving as all hell. He had no telepathic link of any sort with his duplicate, which meant that he didn't know exactly what _he_ was up to. Usually, this wasn't a big deal, but at times like these, well, Shinji feared disaster could result from him not knowing the things his _other_ self knew.

"You okay, Shinji?" Misato asked. "You look like you're the one about to attempt this crazy stunt, not me."

He turned to his guardian and gave her a weak smile. Seated next to him, the NERV Ops Director was clad in a purple and white radiation suit. The protective garment was surprisingly form fitting, but Shinji didn't think he'd ever felt _less_ like ogling a woman.

"This is really dangerous, Misato," he said. "Crazy dangerous. I…I'm not sure you should do it."

Ice had shot through his veins when he'd been pulled out of school and told that Unit One was needed to help stop an out-of-control Jet Alone. So far as he was concerned, that could only mean Technus.

The only problem was that he didn't fully understand the situation. If the technology ghost had, by the power of his own abilities alone, managed to completely seize control of the giant robot…then Misato's mission was nothing short of suicidal.

If, on the other hand, Technus was merely exploiting some glitch in the Jet Alone's programming, then using the password Misato had obtained was probably the _only_ way to stop him.

_If only I knew more,_ he thought, struggling to contain his frustration.

The appearance of the Jet Alone hadn't been altered in any way by Technus, which was a good sign. However, that didn't mean it was certain that Technus wasn't in total control. Subtly wasn't the technology ghost's strong suit, but he _was_ capable of it every now and then…

Misato, meanwhile, had no idea that the EVA pilot next to her was a veteran ghost hunter, someone used to confronting high stakes situations and supernatural entities. Instead, she thought she was dealing with a boy—an extremely brave boy, but a boy nonetheless—who was afraid of losing his guardian.

"Shinji, at the end of the day, I'm a soldier. Doing dangerous things to protect people is my job," she said gently. Then she smiled. "Besides, you don't get to take all the insane risks around here."

The Third Child was not much heartened by her attempt to lighten the mood, but he forced himself to smile weakly back at her. It was looking like he'd actually have to go through with this.

"Captain Katsuragi, it's almost time," the pilot of the plane called from the cockpit.

"In that case," Misato said, putting on her radiation suit's helmet, "I guess we'd both better get ready."

Shinji swallowed, the only way to stop her now would be to explain everything to her, including his secrets. He didn't want to do that, he didn't want expose his alter ego to NERV, and run the risk of never being able to return to Shinjuku-2. _Especially_ when he wasn't even sure whether or not stopping her was the correct course of action.

"…I'll head to Unit One," he said.

* * *

"God damn, this thing is faster than it looks," Shinji Ikiryo gasped as he finally managed to land on the exterior of the Jet Alone.

The giant robot appeared to be moving at a slow, almost casual pace. However, like an Angel or an Evangelion, it covered a _lot_ of ground with each stride. The half-ghost had had to fly at his maximum speed just to catch up, and he knew it wouldn't be long before the giant robot made it out of the ruined wasteland surrounding Old Tokyo.

_Once he gets to civilization, he'll steal every piece of high tech he comes across,_ Shinji thought grimly.

Clearly, there was no time to rest, despite how much he could've used a breather. He looked around the exterior of the robot until he found an entry hatch and carefully made his way over to the thing.

"Please don't be locked," he muttered under his breath as he grabbed the metal wheel to open it.

Normally, he would have just gone intangible and then flown straight through the door, but these definitely weren't normal circumstances. He feared that radioactive particles would get into his protective suit if he made himself intangible inside the JA.

_Of course, that means I can't use one of my most important ghost powers in there,_ he grimaced at the hatch finally sprang open.

The half-ghost scampered inside, and he could immediately feel the already stuffy and unpleasant interior of his suit get even hotter. It was _sweltering_ inside the robot.

"Great," he muttered as he closed the hatch after himself.

_**"Well now, what do we have here?"**_ An amused voice seemed to come from all around him. _**"Some silly little would-be hero who thinks he can thwart the will of a great genius?"**_

"It's me, Technus," Shinji replied, irritated.

_**"Ikiryo?"**_ Technus suddenly didn't seem to be in such a good mood anymore, the Ikiryo noted with satisfaction. _**"What are you doing here?"**_

"Stopping you," Shinji replied. "Duh."

The technology ghost growled. _**"Fat chance! There's no possible way you could make it to me! I'm all the way in the Jet Alone's main onboard computer in the head section!"**_

"Head section, got it," Shinji said with a smirk.

Honestly, Technus was dangerous, but he was also the most inadvertently accommodating ghost that the Ikiryo dealt with. The guy probably would've succeeded in several of his schemes if he didn't have a tendency to shoot himself in the foot.

Technus released a wordless cry of fury. _**"Not this time, Ikiryo! NOT THIS TIME!"**_

Klaxons suddenly went off, causing Shinji to wince, and white foam began to rain down from the ceiling.

_Fire retardant,_ he thought as he wiped off the front of his helmet so he could see. _Is this really the best Technus has got?_

Unfortunately, it turned out that it wasn't. A moment later, several panels in the walls burst open, and dozens of wires exploded out, writhing like snakes. Animated by the power of the technology ghost, they instantly wrapped themselves around Shinji's wrists. He grunted as they pulled hard on his arms.

_**"I'm going to win this time, Ikiryo!"**_ Technus screeched.

Then, to Shinji's surprise and horror, two small compartments in the walls opened up, and a pair of machine guns popped out, pointing themselves directly at him.

_**"The Jet Alone has some truly lethal automated security measures, Ikiryo,"**_ Technus informed him smugly.

Shinji wasn't listening; he was too busy trying to figure out how he'd escape this one before he was turned into Swiss cheese.

Two dots of red light appeared on his chest. _**"Say good-bye, Ikiryo!"**_

Shinji concentrated, and blue light came into being from around his hands, soon spreading over the wires that bound his arms. A layer of frost immediately formed over them, and the Ikiryo pulled, breaking his newly brittle bonds. He then threw himself down to the floor, just as bullets started to fly overhead.

Not wanting to see just how great the guns' range of motion was, he fired his ghost rays at them, destroying them. Shinji breathed a sigh of relief as he got to his feet.

_That was way too close,_ he thought. _Man, Technus must __**really**__ want to hang onto this thing. Not hard to see why._

Unfortunately, he definitely couldn't let the crazy technology ghost possess the giant, nuclear-power robot. With a sigh, Shinji wiped off the front of his helmet again (a steady shower of fire retardant was still coming from the ceiling) and continued on.

* * *

"You do know this is completely insane, don't you?" Shinji asked, gazing at the massive form of the Jet Alone from inside Unit One's cockpit.

Somehow, it looked even bigger from this perspective. The sheer size of the thing truly drove home the level of danger present in Misato's self imposed mission.

And that was _before_ he factored in Technus.

"Yeah, I know, but somebody's gotta do it," Misato replied in a rueful voice, as if she was about to perform a task that was merely unpleasant, like cleaning a toilet, not potentially suicidal, like what she was actually about to do.

Shinji took a deep "breath" of the LCL, then let it out slowly. He still didn't like this, not one damn bit.

"Shinji, Captain Katsuragi, we're ready to make the drop!" Makoto's voice came into the plug via the radio.

"You ready, Shinji?" Misato asked.

"No, but don't let that stop you," Shinji replied, unconsciously echoing himself from right before he'd first piloted an EVA.

He might not have noticed, but his guardian. Misato winced for a moment; she knew that _she_ was the one going into real danger this time, but she also knew that it would hurt Shinji if she was killed.

It was a new sensation for her. She had gone into perilous situations many times in the course of her military career, but never before had she been so worried about what would become of someone who cared about her if she didn't survive. The feeling strengthened her determination to live through the experience she was about to put herself through.

"Drop us, Hyuga!" she ordered.

The massive EVA transport plane released its cargo, and the purple Evangelion went plummeting toward the ground. Shinji closed Unit One's fingers around Misato as tightly as he dared, his fear of losing her in midair warring with his fear of crushing her.

Then they hit the ground, Unit One's landing kicking up a huge amount of dust from the barren Earth. Suspended in liquid as he was, Shinji barely felt their landing. To Misato, however, the impact had been truly bone-jarring. She grimaced.

"Are you okay?" Shinji's voice boomed from Unit One's exterior speakers.

"Just fine!" she shouted back at him. "Get a move on, Shinji! Before it gets too big a lead on us!"

"Right!" he said, and immediately threw the purple Evangelion into a sprint.

The enormous machine picked up speed surprisingly quickly. One thing that had always surprised Shinji about EVA, a machine that was made for battle, was its overall build. Though huge, Evangelion was lean for its proportions, and it had the long, almost gangly limbs of a runner, something that benefited him here. He caught up to the steadily marching Jet Alone in only a few seconds, reaching out with Unit One's free hand to grab hold of its back.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed as he brought the giant robot to a halt.

Of course, the Jet Alone wasn't content to simply remain stationary. It tried to keep moving forward with the relentless tenacity of a machine, and Shinji grimaced as he struggled to keep it in place.

"Okay, good!" Misato called to him. "Now, get me onto its back! By that little hatch over there!" She pointed.

His grimace deepened; this was one of the most dangerous parts of the whole operation. Willing Unit One's hand to remain steady, he carefully lifted Misato toward her destination. Once she was close enough, she carefully began to move toward the robot. Shinji forgot to breathe as he watched her make her perilous trek. If the LCL hadn't been oxygenating his blood directly, he probably would've passed out.

Misato slipped. Shinji felt his heart leap into his throat, and it took every _ounce_ of his willpower to resist the urge to reflexively close Unit One's hand around her, something his rational mind knew would squash her.

Then she regained her balance, turning to face Unit One just long enough to give Shinji a thumbs up before resuming her short but perilous trek. Shinji sighed.

_This is __**so**__ much more nerve-wracking than anything I endured back home,_ he silently lamented.

Finally, Misato leaped from Unit One's hand to the back of the Jet Alone, wobbling only slightly as she landed. Giving one more thumbs up to Shinji, she quickly opened the hatch and scampered inside the giant robot.

_Okay, now all she has to worry about is Technus. Great,_ Shinji thought dourly as he got to the task of keeping the Jet Alone as still as possible. _Damn, but I really hope I'm in there with her._

* * *

"I really wish I was anywhere but here," Shinji Ikiryo muttered to himself.

In all of the battles he'd ever had with malevolent ghosts, he didn't think he'd ever been quite so miserable as he was right now. He felt like he was slowly being roasted alive inside his stifling, ill-fitting radiation suit, Technus was making a point of keeping a steady stream of fire retardant showering down on him, and he had to fight off an attack every two minutes or so.

_And I'd already be there if only I could go intangible!_ He thought.

_**"Getting tired, Ikiryo? Thinking about turning around and leaving?"**_ Technus taunted him over unseen loudspeakers.

"You wish," Shinji retorted. "In fact, aren't I almost there?"

_**"Yes, about that…what was that saying?"**_ Technus asked in a dramatic tone. _**"Oh, yes. So close but yet so far! Sucker!"**_

A loud, deep thud suddenly reached his ears, and Shinji rushed in the direction the sound had come from. He was soon confronted a massive, armored door.

The Ikiryo had to resist the urge to laugh. Even if he couldn't go intangible without risking radiation poisoning, he wasn't about to let a door stop him, not after having trudged this far. Blue light shone around his hands, then shot forward at the door, causing a visible layer of frost to appear over it. Shinji followed up with a blast of green ghost rays, and a huge crack formed in the heavy door, wide enough for him to slip through. The half-ghost quickly flew through the opening, finally entering the brain of the Jet Alone.

It was not quite what he'd expected. Shinji had envisioned some grand control room, with at least one wall dominated by large view screens, and numerous computer terminals waiting for people to use.

There were screens, but they consisted of a modest bank of small monitors, like something a night watchman might be stuck staring at during the graveyard shift. And there was only one, dinky little terminal present. The rest of the chamber was dominated by big, boxy hard drives.

"Not exactly the most sci-fi place in the world," Shinji commented to no one in particular.

_**"Ikiryo!"**_ Technus shouted, his face popping up on the terminal's computer screen. _**"Don't think that making it here means that you've won!"**_

"It sure doesn't mean that I've lost," Shinji quipped.

Technus reply was a wordless growl and a barrage of circuit boards, flying at him from all directions. Shinji waved a hand, and a barrier of eerie green light sprang up, just in time to block the hail of silicon.

"Come on, Technus, enough already!" Shinji said, real impatience adding strength to the mocking tone he employed. "Come out and face me!"

_So I can catch you,_ he added silently, resisting the urge to finger the Ikari thermos he had clipped to the belt of the radiation suit.

_**"Be careful what you wish for, Ikiryo!"**_ Technus snapped.

The technology ghost burst forth from the computer, and for a second, Shinji was able to see the true Technus. He was a rather slender ghost, with otherworldly green skin, snow white hair, and a light gray trench coat. Overall, he wasn't the most intimidating looking villain Shinji had ever faced.

Then one of the walls _exploded_, causing pieces of metal plating, wires, and circuit boards to go flying through the air. Shinji reflexively threw up his arms to shield himself, even though he knew that there was no need for that. The collection of mechanical debris never reached him, instead heading for the technology ghost. They swirled around Technus, and a moment later, he was hidden inside a makeshift armored suit.

_Oh, here we go,_ Shinji thought tiredly, knowing that catching Technus was a nonstarter while the ghost was clad in that thing.

"You're done for, Ikriyo!" Technus shouted.

He held his hands out, and bolts of lightning erupted forth from them. Shinji released a small yelp and quickly flew out of the way, swallowing as he saw the huge black scorch mark the attack left on the wall.

_Okay, that was new,_ he thought. Technus had never been able to do that in the past.

"Give it up, Ikiryo!" he shouted. "If you leave now, I'll let you go."

"I'm guessing that you keeping the atomic death-bot is part of this scenario?" Shinji paused long enough to ask.

A brief moment passed.

"Yes!" Technus snapped.

"Dang," Shinji said, as though he'd actually entertained hopes that might not be the case. "You see, if you'd have been willing to leave the Jet Alone, I would've been more than happy to—_whoa!_" He was interrupted by another bolt of lightning being thrown his way.

Shinji countered with his ghost rays, but the green beams bounced harmlessly off of Technus's battle armor.

_Oh, this is bad,_ he thought as he evaded another blast of electricity.

Usually, when he fought Technus, he had the Kasuga twins at his side, which meant that Kamiko was present to try and hack into whatever devices the technology ghost was using. Now, however, he was alone in an environment that favored his enemy, he couldn't go intangible without risking his life, brute force wasn't working, and the longer this took him, the greater the danger to Misato. Also, Technus appeared to have developed a new power.

_Okay, think, how do I get through this alive?_ He pressed himself, even as he jumped around like a cat on a hot tin roof to avoid his enemy's attacks.

_Duh,_ he thought a moment later. _It's __**Technus.**_

Which meant that all he had to do was get him talking, and the ghost would end up blabbing some critical piece of information sooner or later.

"Come on, Technus," he said in his best mocking tone. "We've done this before, and it always ends the same way. Why not save time and just give up now?"

"Foolish Ikiryo!" Technus yelled, nearly managing to club Shinji over the head with his armored fist. "Don't you realize that I'm on the verge of victory?"

"Oh please," Shinji scoffed, firing off a few of his ineffective ghost beams. "You say something like that _every time._ Why should now be any different?"

"Because, I have the Jet Alone!" Technus snapped, obviously thinking that his foe was being particularly dense that day. "And not only do I have the Jet Alone, but I have a link to its power supply!"

Shinji frowned. _Link to its power supply…?_

Then he looked down and saw the wires coming from the feet of Technus's battle suit, their colorful insulation bright against the dull metal floor. The wires ran all the way back into the wall.

"Oh," Shinji said, finally figuring out why Technus was able to shoot lightning all of a sudden.

Then he lashed out with a blast of green ghost energy, easily severing all the wires.

"Nooo!" Technus shrilled. "How did you know how to do that?"

"Lucky guess," Shinji replied, just before punching Technus in the face.

As he'd hoped, the tech robot's armor wasn't nearly as powerful without his direct energy supply, and Technus went stumbling backwards. Seeing his foe reeling, the half-ghost actually allowed himself to feel some cautious optimism.

Which was quickly crushed when the image of a rad suit-clad woman he as pretty sure was Misato appeared on one of the security monitors.

Right in full view of Technus.

"Eh?" he grunted, clearly spotting the interloper displayed on the screen. "What the deuce…?"

Shinji's eyes widened, and the half ghost panicked, immediately doing the one thing that he knew would make Technus forget all about Misato.

He fired a ghost beam directly at one of the large hard drives in the room, instantly reducing it to a smoking pile of debris.

The technology ghost's response was immediate and brutal. Letting out a wordless screech of pure rage, he backhanded Shinji across the face, sending the half-ghost careening through the air.

"What did you _do?_" Technus barked. "How dare you strike at the core of this magnificent machine!"

Shinji, who suddenly found himself laying face down on the floor, silently decided that he couldn't have cared less about the "magnificent machine", but somehow it seemed like a bad idea to say so.

"_Raugh!_" Technus growled, and Shinji turned to see the armored ghost moving to bring his fist down. The half-ghost boy rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed to pulp.

_Okay, it's official, I have never seen Technus this angry before,_ he thought. He was apparently even more attached to the Jet Alone than Shinji had realized.

Then an idea occurred to him. It was insane, but he didn't have much to lose at this point.

Taking to the air, he fired a ghost ray at another hard drive, and then another.

"No! Stop that!" Technus shrieked, hurling himself at Shinji.

His fury made him clumsy, and the Ikiryo was easily able to dodge. Technus crashed straight into another of the hard drives, reducing that one to scrap himself. Before he could get up, Shinji fried three more.

Nearly a half-dozen of the things still remained, but even when them intact, it appeared that the Jet Alone computer core had taken more damage than it could endure. Shinji could heard metal groaning all around them as the Jet Alone ground to a stop.

"Well," he said, panting with exertion, "it looks like I broke your new toy."

Technus's hands balled into fists, and the self-proclaimed great genius shook with rage. His face was hidden by his armor, and yet Shinji could feel the force of his glare all the same.

Then the ghost's posture abruptly relaxed, something Shinji found far more terrifying than his fury of mere seconds ago.

"Fine," Technus said. "But before I go, there was this little _virus_ I discovered in the mainframe, and I thought I'd boot it up into the backup system!"

"What? What virus?" Shinji demanded.

"Just one that'll cause the nuclear reactor to overheat and _meltdown!_" Technus shouted gleefully. "Have fun escaping, Ikiryo!"

With that, he took off, cackling madly the whole way, his steps creating a thunderous racket as he ran down the halls.

Shinji scowled, furious at Technus. The crazed ghost had never exactly been concerned about human life before, but setting a nuclear disaster into motion just to cover his escape was beyond the pale.

Unfortunately, chasing after Technus and breaking his armor wasn't an option, not if he wanted to get himself and Misato out of the Jet Alone in time. Resigning himself to letting the ghost escape, the Ikiryo turned to the bank of monitors, trying to discern which room Misato was in.

"By the reactor core," he muttered to himself. Of course that was where she would be.

There was a map of the Jet Alone's innards posted on the wall, and Shinji quickly consulted it. Then he took off, heading for the reactor core.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the reactor core control room, Misato was _not_ having a good day. This was where she was supposed to input Tokita's code to deactivate the robot's suicide protocol, but so far she was having absolutely no luck.

"Come on, come on," she grumbled to herself as she typed in the password for what felt like the five-hundredth time.

And for the five-hundredth time, the result was that a bizarre, green-skinned face popped up on the screen.

**"Oh, did you think that would work?" **The voice of the hacker burst forth from the speakers, taunting her. **"I guess you didn't get the memo about how this robot's under the control of Technus now!"**

Misato growled, very nearly giving into the temptation to put her fist through the computer screen. This was the response she got no matter _what_ she tried, and she was starting to lose hope of seizing any level of control from the hacker.

The Ops Director was just about to give up on her current approach when she felt the floor shake under her, and she was barely able to catch herself before she went sprawling to the ground.

"What the heck?" she muttered. "Why is the Jet Alone stopping?"

Almost as soon as she asked the question, the metallic floor rumbled again, and the giant robot resumed its course. The screen filled with static for a moment, and then the face of Technus vanished, replaced with a command prompt.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm really glad it did!" Misato cheered, entering in the password.

Only to receive an error message.

"Gah! Damn you, you stupid, _stupid_ machine!" she raged, her frustration finally reaching a boiling point. "Forget the damn password! _I'll tear you apart with my bare hands if I have to!_"

It was at this exact moment that klaxons started blaring all around her, and flashing red lights filled the reactor control room.

Misato allowed herself a moment to groan and close her eyes. "I didn't actually mean it!" she yelled at the Jet Alone.

_Taking you apart piece by piece with my bare hands would take __**way**__ too long. I'd use artillery instead,_ she silently added.

Then she opened eyes and turned her attention back to the computer terminal, trying to figure out why alarms were suddenly going off all over the place. The reactor temperature was climbing, and fast. It wouldn't be long before the fuel melted down.

She quickly tried to access the high level command functions again, inputting Tokita's password once more.

And once more, she got an error message.

"Damn it!" she hissed. "How the hell do you turn this thing off?"

"I don't think you do," another voice replied. "It's probably impossible."

Misato jumped, surprised, and whirled around to see another figure clad in a radiation suit standing in the doorway. The guy, whoever he was, was too small for the thing, and he tied several knots in the fabric in a bid to eat up extra material.

Something about him seemed familiar to the Ops Director, though she couldn't tell who he was. The harsh red light, as well as the tinted material on the front of his helmet, made getting a good look at his face impossible. The klaxons were similarly thwarting any opportunity to really listen to his voice.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "And what did you mean about it being impossible?"

"I mean that Technus uploaded a virus into the computer, so you can't just shut it down the regular way," the boy explained. "And as for who I am…well, I'm the Ikiryo."

"The ghost boy?" Misato asked incredulously.

"That's me," he replied, and a greenish glow appeared around his gloved hands. "I'm surprised you've heard of me."

The purple-haired woman faced the Ikiryo, silent for a few seconds. Then she shook her head to clear it. "Fine, whatever," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Didn't you just hear what I said?" the Ikiryo demanded. "That's not going to work, and the reactor's going to melt down! We gotta get out of here!"

"You can leave if you like," Misato said. "But I'm staying until I shut this hunk of junk down."

"And how do you plan to do that?" the Ikiryo asked, incredulous.

"Any way I have to," was Misato's curt reply.

With that, she walked over to the shut down rods that were sticking out of the wall. Placing both hands on one of them, she started trying to push it into the reactor.

"You've got to be kidding," the Ikiryo said, watching as she strained without so much as budging the thing. "That'll never work."

"Yeah, well, unless you have super strength—"

"I wish," the Ikiryo said.

"—then the best thing you can do is _shut up_ while I do this," Misato growled through clenched teeth.

"No, the best thing we can both do is get out of here so we don't get killed!" the Ikiryo argued.

"Damn it, kid, don't you realize that thousands of people could die if the reactor goes critical?" Misato snapped. "I can't just let that happen! I have to try, no matter how bad the odds are! And I don't have a better way of cooling this reactor down!"

The Ikiryo was silent for a long moment before speaking again. "I do."

"Huh?" Misato asked, blinking.

"Stand back," he ordered, and she quickly moved away from the absurdly heavy control rod, wondering what trick he might have up his sleeve.

Ethereal blue light glowed around both his hands for a second, and then he fired the pale luminance directly at the reactor core. Misato gasped softly as she saw layers of ice immediately forming on the wall, and she rushed over to the computer terminal to check the readouts on the reactor.

What she saw caused her heart to sink.

"The temperature's still going up," she said. "It's not climbing as quickly as before, but it's still going to melt down at this rate. You have to give it more juice."

"I'm trying! This isn't as easy as it looks!" the Ikiryo replied in a strained voice.

Misato looked back down at the terminal. Despite the ghost boy's heroic efforts, they were only seconds away from critical mass. A countdown timer soon appeared on the monitor and she swallowed as it ticked down to five seconds, four, three…

Two…

One…

With the muffled sound of machinery, the shut down rods abruptly slid into their places, easily shattering the layers of ice on them that the Ikiryo had created. The temperature of the reactor core immediately began to drop back down to safe levels.

"…what just happened?" the Ikiryo asked.

"The…the safeties engaged, one second before meltdown," Misato said, unable to believe it.

"Oh my god," the Ikiryo said, sounding even more surprised than she felt. Then he let out a short, crazed blast of laughter. "Technus actually lied to me!"

"Lied to you? What do you mean?" Misato asked.

"Let's just say he's usually pretty terrible at keeping his plans to himself," the Ikiryo said.

Then, with no warning, he vanished from sight, right before Misato's eyes.

For a moment, she thought he was gone, teleported away somehow. Then she heard footsteps and realized that he was merely invisible. She rushed toward the room's only exit, but he had a head start on her and apparently reached it first. She considered pursuing him down the halls, but she knew that the echo there would make it virtually impossible to accurately follow the sound of his footfalls.

It had already been too frantic a day for her to go chasing ghosts, she decided.

* * *

"So, I understand that the Jet Alone demonstration did not go as we'd planned," Gendo Ikari said, several hours later.

Standing before his desk, Ritsuko hesitated just long enough to briefly muse on how much she hated Gendo's office before answering. "That's correct, sir," she said. "A hacker who identified himself as 'Technus' somehow managed to seize control of the robot for a brief period, though he did eventually run the virus we had installed into its systems."

"Yes, you noted all that in your report," Gendo said. "However, what truly concerns me is what was in Captain Katsuragi's report."

"Receiving assistance from the Ikiryo, you mean," Ritsuko said. "Yes, Misato told me about that."

"Tell me, in your professional opinion, what do you think of those claims, Dr. Akagi?" Gendo asked.

Ritsuko made sure to pick her next words very carefully. There was something in Gendo's demeanor, something she couldn't quite pin down, that made her believe this was a very dangerous subject for some reason.

"Well, since it was the JSDF and not NERV who got to examine the Jet Alone after the incident, it's difficult for me to speculate on what exactly occurred. Going off their report on the matter though, it's clear that _something_ very strange happened inside the Jet Alone prototype," she said. "Indeed, it's difficult to deny the assertion that at least one person besides Misato was inside of it while it was out of control."

"But?" Gendo prompted, sensing the other shoe was about to drop.

"While it seems clear that something _strange_ happened, there's no evidence to suggest that something _supernatural_ occurred," Ritsuko said.

"Except for Captain Katsuragi's testimony about encountering this Ikiryo," Gendo said.

"The Ikiryo is an urban myth from the town where Pilot Ikari used to live, sir," Ritsuko said. "He probably told her about it. And while Misato was in there she was fatigued, under extreme stress, suffering from high temperatures in that stifling suit…the mind can play tricks, sir. I'm sure she's telling the truth about what she saw, but I'm not sure that what she saw was actually _there_."

Gendo was silent for a long moment, pondering. "Regardless of what exactly occurred, a hacker capable of remotely assuming control of the Jet Alone is a potential threat to NERV's security," he said. "I want you and Technical Division One to try to locate this Technus."

"Sir, the JSDF has already announced that it will launch its own investigation into the matter," Ritsuko said.

"I'm aware of that, Doctor," Gendo said, his tone frosty.

"Yes, sir," Ritsuko said, swallowing.

"That will be all," Gendo said.

"Yes, sir," Ritsuko said, then turned and retreated from the room slightly faster than was strictly necessary.

Once she was gone, Fuyutski, who had been so quiet that Gendo had nearly forgotten he was there, raised a hand and scratched his upper lip. The Commander knew that the purpose of the gesture was to hide a smirk.

"You find this amusing, Sensei?" Gendo asked.

"Well, Ikari, you have to admit that it _would_ be rather ironic, if ghosts abruptly appeared to play havoc with the Scenario," Fuyutski said.

The look Gendo gave him made it clear that he did _not_ appreciate that irony. "You heard Dr. Akagi. She said there was absolutely no evidence of anything supernatural," he said.

"No, all we have is evidence that something extremely bizarre went on inside the Jet Alone," Fuyutski countered. "In any case, I think she sensed that it was wiser for her to play the skeptic."

Gendo was silent for a long moment. "It isn't possible, is it? The existence of ghosts?" he asked, and to Fuyutski's amazement, he thought he detected a trace of doubt, perhaps even fear, in his former pupil's voice.

"Well, all I can tell you is that since man began to study the science of metaphysical biology, no one has observed a soul existing outside of a physical body of some kind," he said. "However, there haven't been many studies in that direction, so it remains impossible to tell for sure. Perhaps we should give your brother-in-law a call, just to be on the safe side." He added.

"No," Gendo said, and if his tone had been frosty before, it was outright glacial now. "Regardless of whether or not ghosts exist, Ichigo Ikari is an imbecile. If NERV has to deal with…spectral beings, we will deal with them ourselves."

* * *

The next day, far away from his father's dark and forbidding office, Shinji Ikari walked in the sunshine, heading to Rei Ayanami's apartment. There was a small spring in his step as he made his way to his half-sister's home. Though he knew he'd probably be seeing Technus again sooner than later, he was intensely relieved to have the whole business with the Jet Alone over and done with.

Reaching to the door to Rei's apartment, he hid the small, colorfully wrapped package he held behind his back, then pressed the doorbell with his other hand. The one in _this_ place worked perfectly.

Rei opened the door a moment later. "Ikari," she said in her usual, quiet voice.

"Hello, Rei," he said. "May I come in?"

She gave him a small nod and stepped out of the doorway so he could enter, which Shinji did, being careful to maneuver himself so the blue-haired girl didn't get a glimpse at what he was holding behind his back.

He took a moment to glance around the apartment and was disappointed (but unsurprised) to find the place as bare as it had been when Rei had first moved in.

"Um, this is for you," he said awkwardly, revealing the gift he had clumsily wrapped.

She blinked, looking surprised, as though no one had ever given her a present like this before.

_Maybe no one has,_ he thought darkly.

She reached out and slowly took the box from his hands. "Why are you giving this to me?" she asked, looking up at him. She didn't sound suspicious, merely confused.

"It's a housewarming present," Shinji explained. Rei's blank look made it obvious that he'd need to elaborate. "When a person moves to a new home, it's customary for their friends to give them gifts for that home. I really should've gotten you something for the day you moved, but I guess I just didn't think of it at the time." He added sheepishly.

"I see," Rei said, still looking a little confused and surprised by the whole thing.

"Well? Open it," Shinji urged.

She nodded, then went to the task. Shinji was mildly annoyed at how carefully she unwrapped his gift, being careful not to tear the paper. He supposed that her tearing off the paper like an exuberant child was too much to ask, but still…

"It is a…picture," Rei said, examining the framed photograph of some blue flowers growing on dark green, leafy vines.

"I know it's a little lame," he confessed. "I don't really know what your tastes are. You don't have to hang it up if you don't like it. I won't be, you know, offended or anything."

She looked up at him with one of her utterly inscrutable expressions, and for some reason, Shinji found himself compelled to break the silence.

"I was thinking about how you asked me why this place needs some decoration, when you first came here," he continued. "And I think I know why it does now."

"Why?"

"Because a home isn't just four walls and a bed," he said. "It's a sanctuary. A place to go to in order to rest after being out in the world all day. And it's _yours_. It should have things inside it that mark it as such. Things that _you_ like, that _you_ find pleasing to the eye."

"I see," she said, then looked down at the picture he'd given her before meeting his eyes again. "Thank you." The words came slowly and awkwardly out of her mouth, as though she wasn't used to using them.

_Well, I guess that's progress,_ Shinji thought, smiling.

"You're welcome," he said. "Anyway, Toji, Kensuke, and me are going to go celeb…um, hang out. We're just going to get something to eat and then maybe take in a movie. Do you want to come with?"

Shinji and his friends were going to celebrate the defeat of Technus, but he couldn't very well tell Rei that.

She shook her head. "I have things to do today," she answered.

"All right," he said, unsurprised. "In that case, I'll see you later."

"Good-bye."

With a final wave, Shinji left the apartment, closing the door behind himself as he went.

Alone again, Rei was silent for several moments, simply gazing at her new picture. Eventually, she looked up, spotting a nail sticking out from one of the walls. It had presumably been hammered in by the previous tenants, and Rei went over to it now, hanging her picture on it.

Then she took several steps back, examining the picture from her doorway, as though she had just entered and saw it.

A tiny smile formed on her face.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** This is one of those rare chapters that I was really looking forward to writing, yet when the time to actually do so came, I found myself struggling with it. I don't know why. The battle against Technus just didn't come out quite as I'd hoped. In fact, my favorite scene of this whole chapter was probably the last one, with Shinji visiting Rei at her new apartment.

Well, enough of my rambling. Thanks as always to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta reader as well.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Chaos on the High Seas**

Shinji was riding on a helicopter. He didn't quite know why.

All he really knew was that Misato had told him they were going a trip to a "cute little boat" that day, and that he should invite a couple of his friends to come along. He'd wanted to bring Rei with them, too, but NERV needed to have at least one EVA pilot on hand at all times.

Of course, he could've used his ghost powers to go snooping and found out the whole story about the surprise trip. He figured that he could let Misato keep this secret, though. There times when it didn't pay to be too nosy, even if you could always get away with it.

He leaned over to gaze out at the window, looking at the endless expanse of the ocean below. The water seemed to sparkle in the sunlight, and he sighed softly. _If I was home right now instead of here, the twins and me would probably be out swimming,_ he mused.

"You okay, Shinji?" Misato asked. "Not getting motion sickness or anything, I hope."

"Nah," he replied with a rueful smile. "Just feeling a little homesick, I guess. Shinjuku-2 is a coastal town."

Misato's expression became somewhat sad at hearing that. She opened her mouth to say something to him, but was interrupted by Toji.

"So where are we going, anyway?" the jock asked impatiently, completely oblivious to the interplay between Shinji and his guardian.

Toji had been all for it when the Third Child had asked him if he wanted to go on the trip, but it felt like they'd been in the air for a really long time now to him. Seeing as how he wasn't in a good position to ogle Misato, he wanted off the helicopter as soon as possible.

"I told you, we're going a boat ride," she told him. "In fact, we should just be coming into view of the boat right about now."

The three boys went to look out the windows, and their eyes widened as they saw the array of naval power arranged on the ocean beneath them. Shinji was far from an expert on such things, but it seemed like a truly enormous fleet to him.

"Oh…my…_god_," Kensuke breathed.

"Oh boy, here we go," Toji groaned.

"This is amazing!" the otaku exploded. "Wow, what a fleet! There's one…two…three…_four_ aircraft carriers down there, and at _least_ a dozen destroyers. This is the most _awesome_ thing I've ever seen. Shinji! You are the best friend…_ever_!"

With that, the bespectacled boy threw his arms around the EVA pilot, embracing him tightly. Less than comfortable with this arrangement, Shinji let out a small yelp and began trying to pry Kensuke off of him.

"Okay, you're welcome, now…please get off of me," the Third Child said awkwardly.

"Give the guy some air, Ken!" Toji exclaimed, helping Shinji pull Kensuke off of him. "Geeze, chill out."

Kensuke released Shinji, though he didn't calm down very much, instead going back to the window to gawk at the fleet some more. "No way! I don't believe it!" he exclaimed. "That's the _Over the Rainbow_! The pride of the UN Navy!"

"Man, now that's a name that'll strike fear into the enemy," Toji remarked under his breath to Shinji, who smirked.

"Ah, that's where we're going, the _Over the Rainbow,_" Misato said.

Shinji's eyebrows rose. "_That's_ your cute little boat?" he asked.

The Ops Director chuckled. "I guess it doesn't really fit the description, does it?" she asked. "To tell you the truth, I'm surprised that rusty old thing can even still float."

"Aw, she's not that old," Kensuke said. "She was built just before the Second Impact, in fact."

"Misato, what's all this about?" Shinji asked with a frown.

This obviously wasn't just some day trip she'd thrown together on a whim. A fleet that big had to have a reason for assembling and coming to Japan.

His guardian, however, was still being coy about the whole thing. "Just wait and see," she said with a grin.

"So, no life-or-death stuff involved?" he asked.

"Not today," she replied cheerfully.

The helicopter came down for a landing on the massive carrier, and the passengers disembarked. Kensuke immediately pulled out his camcorder and starting filming everything, growing increasingly enthusiastic as he took in the ship.

"Kid's gonna hyperventilate or something if he keeps that up," Toji commented.

Shinji stretched widely, exceedingly glad for the chance to stretch his legs. He decided that he definitely preferred flying under his own power to helicopters. More legroom that way. "I think he'll be okay," he said.

Just then, a gust of wind blew Toji's new baseball cap off his head, sending it across the deck. With a yelp, the jock began running after it, desperate to catch it before the gust took it over the side and into the drink.

He had almost reached it when a foot clad in a red sandal came crashing down onto it, pinning it the deck. Completely ignoring the person the foot was attached to in his zeal to get his cap back, Toji grabbed it and started pulling.

His efforts were completely fruitless; the person standing on his hat was surprisingly strong.

"Whoa…" Shinji breathed as he approached, taking in far more of the scene than his friend. The redheaded girl standing on Toji's hat was gorgeous. He could feel his heartbeat accelerating and his palms sweating as he looked at her.

Then the girl lifted her foot, and Toji went crashing onto his rear end, holding his very crumpled cap.

"Hello, Misato!" the girl called cheerfully.

"Hello, Asuka," the Ops Director replied as she walked up to the group, with Kensuke in tow. "My, you've grown since I last saw you."

Asuka grinned. "And I haven't just gotten taller, my figure's filled out as well," she boasted.

Halfway through pulling Toji to his feet, Shinji blushed.

Then another gust of sea air blew across the deck. This time, Toji was clutching his hat tightly, so it didn't go astray. However, the wind _did_ blow the skirt of the girl's yellow sundress, lifting it just high enough for the three boys present to see a brief flash of white.

_Smack! Smack! Smack!_

Her hand moved so quickly that Shinji never even saw it coming. Unlike with Toji's fist weeks and weeks ago, he never even had the chance to go intangible and avoid the stinging blow. He blinked, too stunned at the expected slap to react.

Toji, however, was quicker on the ball. "What was that for?" the jock snarled.

"That's the viewing fee. Quite a bargain, nicht?" Asuka asked haughtily.

Shinji could actually feel his opinion of the pretty redhead dropping precipitously.

"It's overpriced," Toji sneered.

The jock then reached for his belt. Shinji realized what his friend had planed to do just in time, and he reached out, placing a hand on the other boy's shoulder and squeezing. Toji turned his head and directed a scowl at Shinji, as though asking why the EVA pilot was stopping him.

Shinji just shook his head, giving Toji a look and hoping his message got through. Words really could not describe how unnecessary what the jock was about to do was.

Reluctantly, Toji removed his hands from his belt buckle and backed off.

"So," Asuka said, placing her hands on her hips as she scrutinized the trio of boys, "which one of you is the famous Third Child?"

"I am. I'm Shinji Ikari," the other pilot answered. He refrained from adding that it was nice to meet her, since that, sadly, would have been a lie.

The redhead leaned close to him, narrowing her eyes, and Shinji couldn't quite keep himself from flinching back at the intrusion into his personal space.

"He's really ordinary," Asuka remarked to Misato, looking disappointed.

The Third Child released a small snicker before he could stop himself.

_If only she knew…_

"What's so funny?" Asuka demanded.

"Nothing," Shinji lied.

The redhead's glare made it exceedingly obvious that she didn't believe him.

Misato cleared her throat, breaking the tension. "I need to get these transfer documents to the admiral in charge of this fleet," she said, holding up a small sheaf of papers. "Asuka, why don't you show us the way to the bridge?"

* * *

About a half an hour later, Shinji was definitely starting to wonder when they would get the chance to go home. They had all followed Asuka to the bridge, where Misato had had a conversation with the admiral (entirely in English, which meant that the trio of boys could only follow very brief bits).

Then things had gotten interesting when a man with a ponytail had shown up. It was obvious that Misato and Ryoji Kaji had a history, and a rocky one, judging by his guardian's reaction to seeing the man.

Still, interesting didn't mean pleasant. The whole lot of them were currently seated at a table in the officer's mess, and Shinji was already starting to fidget with discomfort and his eagerness to be going. Asuka's demeanor hadn't improved, Misato was miserable, and something about Kaji's nature just came off as _too_ friendly to Shinji.

"I must say, it's a pleasure to formally meet you, Ikari-san," the unshaven man said, grinning lopsidedly at Shinji.

It took the Third Child a second to realize that Kaji was speaking to him. He wasn't sure that he'd ever had an adult refer to him as "-san" before.

"Thank you," he said awkwardly.

"So, I hear you're living with Katsuragi," Kaji said.

"Um, yeah," Shinji nodded, not quite sure where the man was going with this.

Kaji cast a look at Misato, then directed his gaze back to the Third Child before speaking again. "Tell me, is she still so wild in bed?"

The reactions from the others sitting around the table were instantaneous. Toji and Kensuke both snapped their heads to the side to look at him, mouths hanging open. Misato choked on the coffee she'd been drinking and started to cough violently. Asuka's face turned crimson, though Shinji wasn't sure if it was because she was embarrassed or because she was enraged.

The Third Child himself released a strangled sound, feeling heat rushing up in his face. "I wouldn't…I wouldn't know anything…" he stammered.

"_How could you even __**suggest**__ such a thing?_" Misato roared at the unshaven man, abruptly finding her voice.

Kaji, who was the only person at the table who looked cool and collected, just grinned at Shinji. "She hasn't changed at all, has she?" he asked.

Misato, realizing how easily the man had just pushed her buttons, immediately deflated, wearing an extremely sour expression.

"I wouldn't know about that, either, seeing as how I just met Misato a few months ago," Shinji grumbled. "How do you know so much about me, anyway?"

"Why, you're famous in my line of work," Kaji said. "The pilot of Evangelion Unit One, who destroyed an Angel with no training!"

Shinji could actually _feel_ Asuka's glare intensifying, though he had little clue as to what was making her so angry. Nevertheless, he couldn't help fidgeting a bit.

"Oh, I was just lucky," he said. "To be honest, I barely even remember the last couple minutes of that battle. It's just a blur to me."

"You must have some real killer instincts, then, if you were able to beat the Angel," Kaji suggested.

"Killer instincts? I don't think so," Shinji said, trying to look amused at the idea. "Like I said, I was just lucky."

Of course, he really hadn't been lucky. Spectra showing up and causing his ghost sense to go off at a critical moment had been a terrific stroke of misfortune, to put it mildly.

"Believe me, kid, luck only gets you so far in the defense business," Kaji said. "If that was all you had going for you, you'd be dead by now."

"…thank you?" Shinji blinked.

Asuka exhaled gustily, bringing the strange conversation to an end. "I need some air," she announced as she rose from the table. Without another word, she headed for the door and departed from the room.

"I should probably go after her," Kaji said, getting up. "I think I might have ruffled her feathers a bit there."

He departed, leaving just the trio of boys and Misato, who by that point had her forehead pressed against the tabletop and her arms over her head, as though trying to block out the world.

"You know," Shinji spoke up after a moment of awkward silence, "I think I could use a few minutes on deck, too. Is that all right with you, Misato?" he asked. His guardian just made a sort of grunting noise that he decided to take as an affirmative. "You guys coming?" he asked Toji and Kensuke.

The two boys both cast a glance toward Misato. Both of them would like some time alone with her, but not when she was in this state.

"Sure."

"Why not?"

They followed Shinji out of the mess and up onto the deck. Thankfully, they encountered neither Kaji nor Asuka.

"Whew, this was not exactly the day trip I was expecting," Toji said as they reached an empty observation platform.

"Same here," Shinji agreed, then he frowned. "Were you really going to flash her back there? After she slapped us?"

"Why not?" Toji asked, crossing his arms. "The Red Devil obviously has a high opinion of herself, but that little peek we got was overpriced if you ask me. Just thought I'd give the girl her change."

Shinji rolled his eyes. "Yes, she's snotty, I get it," he said, leaning on the deck's railing. "But I'm going to have to work with her, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't piss her off too much."

"Fine, whatever," Toji grumbled.

With a soft sigh, Shinji turned to look out at the ocean. Working with Asuka wasn't something he was looking forward to in the least.

_Am I really going to have to depend on that hotheaded snob to watch my back while we're fighting Angels?_ He wondered. _God, I miss the twins._

* * *

"So, what do you think of the famous Third Child?" Kaji asked.

He and Asuka had retreated to one of the ship's more rarely used walkways. Kaji had allowed the redhead a few minutes to cool off before asking his question.

He'd gone a bit too far in praising Shinji. The man had known he'd been taking a risk in doing that, but he was hoping to help the Third Child gain Asuka's respect. The boy was going to need it if he wanted to have a good working relationship with Asuka.

_Of course, if I'm very lucky, they'll form a little more than that,_ he mused.

Asuka's advances had been quite…uncomfortable as of late. It would be best for everyone if she lost her interest in him and set her sights on a boy closer to her own age.

"He's boring," Asuka proclaimed.

Kaji resisted the urge to sigh. Nothing was ever easy, especially where the redhead was concerned.

"Hmm, and yet despite having had no training whatsoever, he was able to sync to over 40 percent the first time in Unit One," Kaji remarked.

"Mein Gott!" Asuka gasped. It had taken her months and months of training just to achieve a sync ratio above the absolute borderline.

Despite the way that seemingly _everyone_ at the Third Branch had been discussing little else besides the Third Child since the First Battle of Tokyo-3, this was news to Asuka. Apparently, no one had bothered to tell her about this until now.

The redhead's hands balled into fists. She had known from the start that the Third Child was a threat to her status as the top EVA pilots, but she hadn't realized until now just how _much_ of a threat he was.

"Excuse me, Kaji," she said, and immediately took off in search of her new rival.

It was time to put Shinji Ikari in his place.

* * *

Meanwhile, over a mile below the vast fleet of warships, a creature the size of an aircraft carrier stirred for the first time in years. Opening its multiple red eyes, it started swim upwards, intent on fulfilling its purpose.

* * *

The trio of boys was just about to head back down below deck in search of Misato when Asuka intercepted them. Hands planted on her hips, the Second Child glared at the Third for a good five seconds before finally deigning to speak.

"Come with me, Third Child," she said. It was obvious from the tone of her voice that this wasn't intended to be a request.

Shinji more sensed than saw Toji bristling next to him, but he raised a hand to calm the jock. He didn't like the way she was trying to boss him around, either, but he was determined to try and keep things civil between himself and the newly arrived pilot. He'd go along, for now.

"All right," he agreed, then turned to his two friends. "Why don't you two go check on Misato?"

"Fine," Toji said and reluctantly left, with Kensuke in tow.

"Lead the way," Shinji told Asuka.

A short trip on a dingy later, and the two pilots were on board a large freighter positioned at the center of the fleet. Asuka quickly ambled over to a massive container that was covered by a large tarp.

"Come on in, Third Child," she said as she lifted up the edge of the tarp.

"My name is Shinji Ikari, Soryu," he told her as he bent down to step inside under the course brown fabric.

She ignored him, leading him deeper into the massive container. In the center of the thing was a large pool of LCL, in which a crimson Evangelion lay.

"See that, Ikari?" Asuka asked as she hopped across a small bridge formed from wooden planks attached to metal barrels floating in the liquid.

"An Evangelion," he nodded, growing more confused by the moment. Why had Asuka dragged him here just to see her EVA?

"Yes, Third Child, an Evangelion," she said, turning her head to look over her shoulder at him before scampering up onto the prone form of the red EVA. "But not _just_ any Evangelion. This is Unit Two. Unlike Units Zero and One, which were the prototype and the test type, respectively, _my_ Evangelion was built for actual combat. As the first production model, my Unit Two is the first true Evangelion!"

Shinji rolled his eyes. "Whether they were made for combat or not, Units Zero and One have both been in it," he pointed out. "Seeing as how me and Rei are still here, I'd say they did okay."

The redhead scowled, placing her hands on her hips as she glowered down at him. She opened her mouth to make some kind of retort, but the whole ship shook beneath them before she could say a word.

With a yelp, Asuka lost her footing and went tumbling down the side of the scarlet giant. Instantly springing into action, Shinji leaped across the little artificial islands floating in the LCL, reaching the one nearest Unit Two just in time to catch the falling redhead in his arms.

"Ooph!" Asuka grunted as she landed.

"You okay?" Shinji asked her.

"Yeah," the redhead answered, still a little dazed. "You know, you're stronger than you look, Third."

"Active lifestyle," he answered he answered with a little smirk.

Then Asuka seemed to remember herself. "Put me down, you pervert!" she snapped, struggling in his grip so much that he nearly dropped.

"All right, all right, sheesh," Shinji grumbled, putting her down. "What the heck was that, anyway?"

"An undersea shockwave," Asuka answered grimly. "And it sounded close. Come on!"

She rushed out of the container, with Shinji right at her heels. Seconds later, the two teens had reached the edge of the freighter's deck.

"Mein Gott!" Asuka exclaimed as she grabbed hold of the safety railing.

_Something_ huge was beneath the surface of the ocean, kicking up a massive plume of seawater as it went. As the two EVA pilots watched, the thing sliced through one of the fleet's destroyers. Several orange fireballs burst from the grievously damaged warship as it rapidly began to sink.

Yet despite this awesome and terrible display of raw destructive power, Shinji soon spotted something that completely stole his attention away from the terror below the depths.

Not far from the fleet, and approaching fast, was another ship, a ship that was very, very different from the modern ones that had been tasked with escorting Unit Two to Japan. It was a wooden vessel, something that wouldn't have looked out of place on the high seas centuries ago. Its off white sails were raggedy and tattered, but the enormous flag was in pristine condition, proudly displaying the grinning visage of the Jolly Rogers.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Shinji groaned.

Of all the times for _him_ to show up…

"What are you looking at, Third Child?" Asuka demanded, seeing him staring off into the distance. "The Angel's over there!"

Shinji's gaze snapped back to Asuka, giving her a surprised look. "Huh? But don't you see…?" he trailed off, confused. He knew that adults couldn't see that particular ghost, but Asuka shouldn't be having trouble. She was the same age he was, after all.

"Don't I see what, stupid?" Asuka demanded.

"Nothing," Shinji said, finally acknowledging that she really couldn't see it. "We have to do something about that Angel before it sinks this whole fleet! Do you know how we can get a message to Misato?"

"Forget about her!" Asuka said, a grin spreading across her face. "_I'll_ take care of this Angel, and you're going to get the privilege of watching me do it. Now come on, Third Child."

"I'm gonna regret this," he said under his breath.

"Come on!" Asuka growled at him, and he reluctantly followed her back toward the container where Unit Two sat. "Open!" she barked at the red giant.

Instantly, the section of armor that covered the entry plug moved, revealing the metal cylinder and allowing it to partial emerge. The entry plug hatch then slid open with a soft hiss.

Shinji's eyebrows went up. _Huh, voice commands,_ he thought. _Maybe that thing is better than Unit One._

Asuka quickly scampered into the plug, and Shinji moved to follow her, thinking that they would just have to fight this battle in their regular clothes. However, before he could start climbing up the side of Unit Two, Asuka emerged again, now holding a red duffel bag. Moving back down to the bridge, the Second Child unzipped the bag and withdrew a red plugsuit, which she tossed to him. Shinji caught it, then made a face as he took a better look at it. It was very clearly not made for a man to wear.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Asuka demanded as she withdrew a second, matching plugsuit from the bag.

"Uh, where…?"

"You stay on this side of Unit Two and change, and I'll stay on the other side of Unit Two and change," she commanded. "And if I catch you peeking, I'll murder you!"

Shinji rolled his eyes as she carefully slid down Unit Two's side and vanished from sight. _Believe me, if I wanted to steal a peek of you while you were changing, you would never catch me,_ he thought, annoyed.

Still, a few moments alone was just what the doctor ordered. Setting aside the red plugsuit, Shinji concentrated, and the white rings of energy formed around his body, changing him into Shinji Ikiryo. The ghost boy immediately split himself in two, and one of the pair quickly changed back into human form.

"What the hell was that light?" Asuka demanded. "You're not trying to take pictures of me, are you?"

"No, Asuka," the duplicate in human form said, raising a hand to keep his ghostly counterpart from speaking as well and giving them away.

Without saying a word, Shinji Ikiryo nodded and became invisible, flying out of the room.

With a soft sigh, Shinji Ikari began to take off his clothes, preparing to put on Asuka's spare plugsuit.

* * *

"Kensuke, am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Toji asked.

"Um, I'd say that depends," the otaku replied. "On a scale of one to ten, how crazy do you feel right now? 'Cuz if the answer's 13, then, yeah, I'd say we're seeing the same thing."

The two boys were standing on the bridge of the _Rainbow,_ having followed Misato there. At the moment, the Ops Director was busy arguing with the admiral over how to deal with the Angel, and the rest of the bridge crew was frantically going about their business. No one was paying attention to the two teens.

Which was good, because they both started violently when a disembodied voice broke into their conversation.

"It's a ghost ship, you can say it. You're not crazy."

"Wha…what was—?"

"Relax, it's me," Shinji replied in a harsh whisper. "And keep your voice down."

"R-Right, sorry," Toji said, much more quietly. He tried to make it look like he was speaking to Kensuke. "So, what's with the stone age pirate ship, and why isn't anybody here saying anything about it?"

"They can't see it," Shinji answered. "It belongs to an old enemy of mine."

"Need some help dealing with him?" Kensuke asked eagerly.

"Thanks, but it's best if I fought this one myself," the half-ghost answered. "I just wanted to give you the heads up. You guys just sit tight, and pretend you don't see the ghost ship. Gotta go."

With that, Shinji Ikiryo departed the bridge of the massive battleship, heading for the much smaller wooden vessel in the distance. The cannons on the starboard side erupted as he drew near, but they had no chance of hitting a target as small and quick as the Ikiryo. Shinji dodged them easily, then came to a landing at the helm of the ship, where a diminutive ghost boy was gripping the wheel of the vessel.

"Youngblood, what are you doing here?" Shinji asked with exasperation.

The ghost boy turned to face the Ikiryo. Like many ghosts Shinji had faced in the past, Youngblood had pale blue skin and green hair. An oversized pirate hat sat on his head, and a green parrot with a tiny eye patch was perched on his shoulder.

"What am _I_ doing here? I'm Captain Youngblood, scourge of the seas! And I spotted an opportunity to create a little chaos!" he exclaimed, pointing out toward the massive UN fleet. "What are _you_ doing here, Ikiryo?"

Shinji shrugged. "I was just in the area, so I thought I'd ruin your fun, kid."

Youngblood growled, his small hands clenching into fists. "Don't call me a kid, you big meanie!" he exclaimed, his anger making him break character.

The parrot on the boy's shoulder cleared its throat. "Ahem, I think you meant to call him a 'scurvy dog', Captain," it said in a surprisingly refined voice.

"Oh, right," Youngblood said, abashed. Then he turned his attention back to Shinji. "Call me a kid again, and I'll make you walk the plank, you scurvy dog!"

Shinji just rolled his eyes. Youngblood really didn't have all that much in the way of ghostly powers, aside from his ability to prevent adults from seeing him or his ship. He, Kamiko, and Fumio usually mopped the floor with the brat when they encountered him.

"Look, _kid_, just agree to turn this ship around and go home, and I won't have to fight you," Shinji said.

"I told you to stop calling me a kid!" Youngblood snapped. "Now you're going to get it, you blackguard! Get him, boys!"

Before Shinji could ask who Youngblood was talking to, the doors that led below deck burst open, and dozens of human skeletons emerged, all of them coated from head to foot in glowing green ectoplasm. Many of them were wearing bandanas or pirate hats like Youngblood's, and they were all carrying weapons, an assortment of cutlasses and ancient looking pistols.

_Oh, this is new,_ Shinji thought with rising trepidation. In the past, Youngblood had never had anyone actually manning his ghost ship before, bony or otherwise.

"Say hello to my skeleton crew, Ikiryo," Youngblood said, grinning wickedly.

* * *

Shinji didn't think he'd ever been so uncomfortable in his entire life, and that was truly saying something. He'd endured some very uncomfortable moments in his mere fourteen years of life.

Nevertheless, squeezing into the entry plug—definitely a one person affair—with Asuka, while wearing one of her very feminine plugsuits, unquestionably took the cake.

The redhead seemed less discomforted than he did, probably because she got to sit in the actual chair while he was cramped into the remaining space. Asuka quickly raced through Unit Two's activation sequence, obviously eager to get to the actual combat.

"Synchro start!" she finished, the crimson Evangelion's systems coming to life around them with a loud hum.

Their dramatic takeoff was interrupted by the red error messages that abruptly flared to life to cover the entry plug's screens.

"What's wrong?" Shinji asked, acutely aware of how vulnerable they were while Unit Two sat motionless on the big, slow freighter.

"You are!" Asuka snapped at him.

"Eh?" Shinji recoiled slightly with surprise.

"You're thinking in Japanese, and Unit Two's set for German!" she barked. "Start thinking in the right language!"

"That's gonna be pretty difficult, since I barely know any German at all," the Third Child said, rolling his eyes.

"You're impossible," Asuka growled, before giving Unit Two a few curt orders in German, switching the language to Japanese. "Restart!"

Immediately, colors and crazed patterns started to swirl across the screens, quickly shifting to a view of the inside of the container. Shinji could feel the now familiar tugging at his brain that came from being synced with an Evangelion, but far more faintly than usual, thanks to his lack of A-10 connectors.

"Unit Two, take off!" Asuka yelled joyously as she gripped the control yokes and willed the crimson Evangelion to spring into action.

It was none too soon. Unit Two stood and leapt from the deck of the freighter mere instants before the Angel plowed right into the ship, tearing the vessel into two pieces and sending it sinking into the ocean.

"God," Shinji gasped, looking down at the ruined freighter.

"Don't freak out on me here, Third," Asuka warned him as they came down for a landing on one of the fleet's cruisers, utterly trashing its forward guns as they landed and causing it to tilt frighteningly in the water before they stabilized. She never took her eyes off the HUD.

"Wasn't planning on it," Shinji replied, his eyes flicking over to the clock that was counting down the amount of time they had before the internal battery was spent. "We only have two minutes, and the power cord's on the carrier. How are we supposed to get there?"

"Simple, we play hopscotch," Asuka replied.

"Hop—?" Shinji's question turned into a strangled cry as the crimson EVA again went into motion, leaping from the cruiser onto one of the smaller carriers.

Nor did she stop there, proceeding to jump from one ship to the next as she made her way to the _Rainbow_, barely keeping one step ahead of the Angel as he went. Shinji gripped the back of her seat so hard that his knuckles turned white, deciding that this girl was completely insane in addition to being unpleasant.

Though, much as he hated to admit it, he _was_ impressed. He didn't think he could have successfully pulled off a similar stunt with Unit One.

_Not that I'd be nuts enough to try,_ he thought.

Finally, they landed on the deck of the _Rainbow_, Unit Two's armored feet leaving massive dents in the proud warship as it came down, and Shinji swore he could hear the admiral cursing, even from where he was.

"Look, there's your cable," the Third Child pointed to where a group of sailors was bringing out the massive plug. He hoped he didn't sound as nauseous as he felt, especially since Asuka wasn't looking remotely green around the gills.

"Right," she said, and guided Unit Two through the process of hooking up the cable with practiced ease. The battery's countdown clock winked out as they went to external power. "Now that that's taken care of, it's time to kill that Angel." She added, turning in the direction of the approaching Angel. The immense plume of water the beast was generating was coming toward them at a disturbing rate.

"Please tell me we have a gun somewhere," Shinji practically begged.

"The progressive knife should be just fine," Asuka replied, mentally commanding the compartment in Unit Two' shoulder to open and taking hold of the weapon.

"Against that thing?" Shinji asked incredulously. "Is Unit Two at least setup for underwater combat?"

"No," Asuka answered. "Relax, it'll be fine. You're riding with the ace pilot now, Third."

Before Shinji could say anything else, the Angel finally burst from the surface of the water. Vaguely fish-like, it was easily the largest one Shinji had seen yet, at nearly the same size of the super carrier. The thing crashed onto the deck of the _Rainbow_ with tremendous force, easily knocking Unit Two off its feet and causing the ship to tilt back and forth violently. For a terrifying moment, Shinji really thought that the _Rainbow_ was going to capsize.

Then the shaking stopped, and Asuka somehow got Unit Two out from under the Angel and onto its feet.

"It's like a beached whale," Shinji said.

"Hmph, and here I thought that this Angel might actually give me a challenge," Asuka said as she raised her knife, preparing to fillet the beast.

Shinji was about to warn the Second Child not to get cocky, but he lost the chance as the universe decided to do it for him. The Angel trashed, forcing Unit Two to retreat back a step, and its size two hundred foot happened to land on an aircraft elevator. The thing immediately buckled beneath the Evangelion's weight, sending Unit Two sprawling backwards.

The ship tilted again, and the Angel made its move, shifting its own weight. Before either Shinji or Asuka could react, both Angel and Evangelion went plunging into the drink.

"Oh, geeze, we're in trouble now," Shinji groaned.

"Stop being so negative!" Asuka snapped, but now he thought he detected a hint of fear mixed in with her anger. "I can still do this!"

Attempting to prove her point, she gripped the control yokes again, trying to make Unit Two move. However, she could barely get it to raise its head.

That was enough to give them a very good view of the Angel as it rushed toward them, though. The beast opened its mouth, and Shinji's eyes widened as he saw the ruby core at the back of its throat.

Asuka, on the other hand, was more fixated upon the multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth the Angel boasted. She let out a strangled, wordless cry of fright as the Angel bore down on them, squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

Shinji pressed his palms against either side of the plug and concentrated hard, clenching his jaw. His ghostly powers spread throughout the massive form of the Evangelion, turning it transparent just as the Angel reached them. The beast passed right through Unit Two, its jaws failing to clamp down on the EVA entirely.

The Third Child slumped with both relief and fatigue, allowing the Evangelion to become solid again. He wasn't sure he'd be able to pull that off a second time.

"Wha-what happened?" Asuka asked, opening her eyes.

"It turned away from us at the last second," Shinji lied. "But this isn't over yet. We have to—" He was cut off as Unit Two began to move backwards through the water. "What's happening?"

"They're reeling us in by the power cable," Asuka said.

Within moments, Unit Two had broken the surface of the water again, restoring at least some mobility to the war machine, and they had reached the side of the _Rainbow_. It was at this point, however, that things became problematic again.

"So how do we get back onto the deck without capsizing the ship?" Shinji asked.

"Be quiet!" Asuka snapped. "I…I'll figure something out!"

Shinji held back a sigh. _I really hope that Shinji Ikiryo's having a better day than Shinji Ikari is._

* * *

"Man, this just isn't my day," the Ikiryo lamented.

Youngblood's pack of piratical skeletons was proving to be some of the most tenacious foes he'd ever fought before. A single shot of his ghost rays reduced them to small heaps of ectoplasm, but they all immediately reformed the second after he knocked them down.

"My skeleton crew can keep this up all day, Ikiryo!" Youngblood taunted him. The pint-sized pirate had taken position in the ship's crow's nest to better watch as the pack of skeletons pursued Shinji across the wooden vessel. "Can you?"

"Shut up," Shinji grumbled, even as he avoided a hail of pistol fire. It was a good thing that the guns the skeletons were using were all so ancient, or he would've been reduced to Swiss cheese some time ago.

One of the skeletons got close enough to take a swing at the Ikiryo with its cutlass. Shinji nimbly dodged the attack, grabbing hold of the ghost's bony arm and then wrenching the weapon from its grip. With one artless swing, he lopped the bony pirate's skull off, sending the thing clattering to the deck.

Unfortunately, the skeleton's response was to simply pick the skull up and place it back onto its neck, as though there was absolutely nothing to it.

Scowling, Shinji held his commandeered sword up clumsily. He'd never taken kendo or fencing.

_God, I wish the twins were here,_ he thought as he desperately fended off the pack of skeletons with a few swings of his sword, firing blasts of his ghost rays with his free hand.

Unfortunately, Fumio and Kamiko weren't with him, and neither were Toji and Kensuke, for that matter.

_You need to do this one solo, so quit wishing for help,_ he scolded himself. _So, what would Fumio do here?_

He had a sudden mental image of his friend unleashing a storm of ofunda at the skeletons, forcing them to _stay_ down the next time they were taken out.

Unfortunately, that wasn't an option for Shinji. He didn't have any ofunda on him, and in any case, his own ghostly nature usually insured that the things affected him just as much as they did his enemies when he tried to use them.

_Okay, so what would Kamiko do?_ He wondered.

That was a little harder to predict. The female Kasuaga twin liked ecto-pistols as much as her brother enjoyed using his magic, but Kamiko tended to be more of a thinker. Indeed, she had usually figured out how to beat the more powerful ghosts more often than either Shinji or her brother did. She was good at finding the weak spot in their foes' defenses.

_But these guys don't __**have**__ a weakness!_ Shinji thought. _Every time I take them out, they get right back up!_

He was seriously thinking about running away by this point. Youngblood liked to raise hell, but he wasn't murderous. Even if he was left to his own devices, there _probably_ wouldn't be any fatalities. The only problem was that if he left, the fleet would have to deal with both the Angel and the ghost pirate.

"Give it up, Ikiryo!" Youngblood shouted down at him. "Surrender now, and maybe I'll spare you! We could use another potato peeler below deck!"

Shinji paused in his battle with the skeletons just long enough to look up at the smaller ghost boy. Why hadn't it occurred to him before?

Abandoning his battle with the skeletons, Shinji flew upwards toward the ship's crow's nest, toward Youngblood. The ghost pirate was just a little bit too slow to react, and Shinji managed to catch him in a full nelson hold, even as he continued to ascend, taking them well above the ghost ship.

"Hey! Let go of me!" he shouted, squirming and using his own flying ability to try and break free.

Shinji didn't let him, ignoring the way Youngblood's pet parrot was frantically flying around his head. "Not a chance," he said. "Now call off your bony friends." He commanded, noticing that the skeletons were taking to the air after him.

Damn, and he'd hoped they couldn't fly.

"Forget it!" Youngblood snapped.

"That wasn't a request, kid," Shinji countered.

"Oh? And what are you gonna do to me if I refuse?" Youngblood replied, smirking. "You're one of the good guys, Ikiryo. And even if you weren't, I'm already a ghost."

Shinji grit his teeth, at a loss for how to proceed. He might've hesitated until the skeletons were on him again, if not for another fateful gust of sea air. The wind blew Youngblood's oversized pirate's hat off his head, sending it tumbling toward the ocean below.

The instant it was off his head, the skeletons stopped dead, hovering motionlessly in the air.

"Bingo," Shinji said, grinning.

The Ikiryo released his hold on the pipsqueak pirate and went into a power dive toward the falling hat. Youngblood immediately followed, shouting insults and cries for Shinji to stop the whole time.

The half ghost ignored him, snatching the hat just before it hit the surface of the water and jamming it onto his own head, trying not to think about how ridiculous he doubtlessly looked.

_Geeze, this thing is too big for me,_ he thought. _How does Youngblood wear it?_

Shaking his head a bit to clear out his errant thoughts (and making sure to keep a hold on the hat while he did, lest he lose the silly thing), he turned toward the still unmoving group of ghost skeletons.

"Hey, over here!" he shouted. "One of you grab Youngblood!"

As he hoped, they immediately rushed to comply, plucking the small pirate out of the air long before Youngblood could ever reach him.

"Argh! You can't do this to me!" Youngblood howled, struggling furiously as he tried to get free. "I'm the captain, and this is my crew!"

"Consider this a mutiny," Shinji replied. "Now, I think you've had your fun."

He grabbed the Ikari thermos that was clipped to his belt and pointed it at Youngblood, who redoubled his futile escape efforts.

_"Nooooo!"_ he shrieked as he was drawn into the ghost trap.

"Finally," Shinji said, putting the cap back on and putting the thermos back in its place. "Now…"

He trailed off as he finally caught sight of the battle against the Angel that was happening in the distance, giving it his full attention just in time to see Unit Two crest the surface of the water as the _Rainbow_ reeled it in. The crimson Evangelion looked disturbingly helpless as it clung to the side of the super carrier.

_Uh-oh,_ Shinji thought. Clearly, he had to do something, but what? He supposed he could try to trap the Angel in a block of ice, but he doubted he was strong enough to freeze _that_ much water.

Then he smiled as an idea came to him. "All of you," he said, addressing the skeletons, "man the cannons!"

The crew immediately rushed to comply, and Shinji flew up to the wheel of the ship. He turned it, and the supernatural vessel immediately turned, more gracefully than any mundane wooden sailing ship would have been able to. Soon, they were heading straight for the battle.

"This has got to be one of the craziest things I've ever done," Shinji grumbled to himself.

He reached Unit Two just as the Angel was coming in for another attack, its jaws opened wide. Shinji swallowed as he got a good look at the massive creature; Youngblood's ship was like a toy boat in comparison.

Which, actually worked out surprisingly well for him. By now, the Angel was close enough to Unit Two that their AT Fields were neutralizing each other, and thanks to the ship's relatively small size, it sailed right into the beast's open maw.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Shinji exclaimed, keeping a death grip on the wheel, lest the ship be thrown off its collision course. "**FIRE!**"

The cannons roared, smashing into the insides of the Angel's mouth. The primitive weapons weren't nearly powerful to actually do the beast any harm, but they _did_ do a very good job of getting the Angel's attention.

It released a thunderous roar, the sheer power of which nearly blew the half-ghost boy away. Its jaws clamped shut a moment later, and it began to writhe in pain and fury. Shinji's word became one giant earthquake in the dark, illuminated only a few shafts of light that seeped in between the Angel's teeth.

And still, the Ikiryo held onto the wheel, struggling to keep the ship on course for his target. He grit his teeth as the water around the vessel writhed around him.

He heard wood splintering as the prow of the ship finally crashed into the ruby sphere that was the Angel's core, hopefully doing some damage to it, and he knew it was time to go. Removing the pirate hat and tossing it carelessly aside, he went intangible and flew off.

* * *

"What the hell is with this Angel?" Asuka exclaimed, more exasperated than relieved at the way it had abruptly halted in its attack.

"I don't know," Shinji lied. _He_ had seen the ghost ship charging into its mouth, after all. "But I think it's about to—woah!"

One of the Angel's trashing flippers came up and hit them from below, catapulting Unit Two out of the water and sending it careening through the air, flipping end over end as it went. After what felt like an eternity to Shinji, they crashed onto the deck of one of the fleet's cruisers, Unit Two landing face down.

"Ooh," he groaned. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"If you throw up in the LCL, I'll murder you," Asuka warned him, even as she got Unit Two back to its feet.

"Duly noted," Shinji said miserably. "So, it looks like we're right back to square one. How are we going to kill this Angel?"

"You were saying how you wished we had a gun earlier, right?" Asuka asked.

"Yeah, so?" Shinji asked, keeping a nervous eye on the Angel, which was racing toward them once again, apparently having finished devouring Youngblood's ship.

Smirking, Asuka gestured toward the cruiser's giant forward guns with a nod of her head.

"You're kidding," Shinji said.

"You got a better idea?" Asuka demanded.

"…no," the Third Child admitted reluctantly.

Unit Two grabbed hold of the battery, and with a grunt from Asuka, ripped the thing clean out of the cruiser. It was an awkward weapon for the crimson Evangelion, the barrels too long even for an EVA. However, she managed to get a stable grip on it nevertheless.

"Can you even fire that thing?" he asked her.

"Yeah, relax," she said, still grinning like a lunatic. "This'll be a piece of cake."

"I hope so, because here it comes," Shinji said, pointing.

The Angel leapt out of the water again, its jaws opened wide, countless teeth shining in the light of the sun. This time, though, Asuka didn't just wait for the thing to crash into Unit Two.

Instead, she leaped right into its gaping maw.

_"Banzai!_" She screamed.

Shinji's hands were starting to ache from gripping the back of her chair so tightly for so long, but he didn't loosen his hold.

Crazy though Asuka's maneuver might have been, though, it was effective. It actually seemed to catch the Angel by surprise, and the beast hesitated in clamping its jaws down on them long enough for Unit Two to get to point blank range.

"And the grand finale!" Asuka exclaimed, firing her commandeered weapon.

Massive shells erupted from the barrel of the guns, and they were too close to miss. The already weakened core never stood a chance, shattering to pieces beneath the force of the attack. The Angel released a deep shrieking sound, making Shinji think of a dying orca, then went limp and silent.

Now dead, the beast slowly began to sink into the depths, soon disappearing from sight. Unit Two, meanwhile, floated beneath the surface, remarkably buoyant for something that was covered in heavy armor from head to toe.

"Well," Asuka said, leaning back in her command chair, a smug smile on her face. "It was a bumpier ride than I expected, but I killed that Angel. I told you I was an ace pilot, didn't I, Third?"

Exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, Shinji slumped against the back of her chair. _As if,_ he thought. _I wonder what tune she'd be singing right now if she'd been able to see Youngblood's ship?_

Of course, that wasn't really all that important. There was a much bigger question that was tormenting the Third Child at the moment.

How in the world could he manage to actually work with this crazy girl?

* * *

**Author's Notes:** And here we have Asuka's introduction. I followed canon a little more closely this time around than I would have liked, except for the inclusion of Youngblood, who was the only ghost that made sense for the ocean setting.

Not much else to say here, so as always, thanks to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta reader as well.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from the fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Of Angels and Cardboard**

Shinji Ikiryo was flying over Tokyo-3.

Even he had to admit, this was a pretty dumb move, and the fact that he was currently invisible did little to change that. He'd had to give his Section Two bodyguards the slip so he could take a flight, and there was little doubt in his mind that he'd get a lecture for it from Misato later. Not only that, but he knew he could only pull his vanishing act so many times before NERV started to wonder if there was something _unusual_ about him.

Yet despite knowing all this, he had still decided to go for a flight anyway. Flying had always had a soothing effect on him, and honestly, Shinji felt like he needed that right then, after the day he had.

"I'm telling you, Fumio, this girl is completely insufferable," Shinji grumbled, holding onto the Ikari-phones to make sure they didn't fall off his head and go tumbling to the city below. "Not only is she nasty, but she almost got us both killed today."

**"I heard that something happened over by you,"** Fumio's voice answered him. **"Figured it was an Angel attack, but I wasn't sure. The media blackout is crazy. So what happened?"**

Heaving a sigh, Shinji recounted NERV's inglorious clash with the Seventh Angel that morning. "The crazy part is, she's actually damn good at controlling her EVA," he finished. "She probably would have killed the thing no problem if not for its little trick of splitting into two. But if she just hadn't ignored orders and charged in like an idiot, we might've won anyway!" he ranted.

**"This Asuka sounds pushy as hell,"** Fumio said sympathetically.

"She is, but that's not the problem," Shinji replied. "I mean, I can deal with pushy. I've dealt with a pushy girl for years, after all, and—"

**"And what is **_**that**_** supposed to mean?!"** a new voice broke into their conversation.

Shinji froze in midair. "Fumio, why didn't you tell me she was wearing her set of 'phones?" he asked.

**"I didn't know!"** Fumio exclaimed. **"She's not in the room with me!"**

**"So, **_**what**_** did you mean about having dealt with a pushy girl for years, Shinji?"** Kamiko demanded again. **"Just who were you talking about, huh?"**

"Oh, wow, my ghost sense just went off. I think I see Skulker down there. I better go. Bye!" Shinji said a great rush, switching off the Ikari-phones before Kamiko could protest.

If he knew the twins, and Shinji was quite confident that he did, Kamiko would respond to this by finding her brother and demanding to know why they'd been talking about her behind her back. It would take Fumio some time to convince her that they really hadn't been doing that (much).

The half-ghost felt guilty about that, but after having spent the last few days dealing with Asuka, and then getting into a disastrous Angel battle, which had been capped by a stern lecture from Fuyutski…Shinji just wasn't up to dealing with an angry Kamiko, too.

_I've gotten him out of trouble plenty of times in the past. He can return the favor,_ Shinji thought in a mostly unsuccessful attempt at placating his conscience.

Arriving at the apartment building he currently called home, he came to a landing at a deserted spot near the trash incinerators. Changing back into his human form, he made his way around to the front entrance, noticing the DHL truck as it pulled away.

_Wonder if someone's moving into the building,_ he thought idly to himself. _That would be good, I guess. The place is too empty._

Feeling the trials of the day weighing down on him, Shinji climbed the stairs to the apartment and quickly opened the door, slipping inside.

"What a day," he grumbled to himself, not bothering to announce his entrance like he normally would have. Misato was still stuck at headquarters, after all. "Feel like I could sleep for a…"

He trailed off as he reached the living room, discovering that numerous boxes lined the walls, stacked straight up to the ceiling in several places.

"What the…what the heck _is_ all this?!" he demanded of no one in particular, flabbergasted by the sudden appearance of so much stuff.

"There are my personal belongings," an unexpected voice answered him haughtily, startling him.

Whirling around, Shinji spotted the Second Child standing in the mouth of the short hallway that led to the apartment's bedrooms. Judging by the large bath towel and the extra set of clothes she had in her arms, Asuka was on her way to the shower.

Shinji noticed that the shirt she was carrying was a distinctive maroon color with a familiar blue flame emblem emblazoned on the front.

_Great, so in addition to all her other Sterling qualities, she's an Ember McLain fan, too,_ he thought.

"What are you doing here?" he asked bluntly.

"I live here," she informed him. "Idiot."

He blinked, a sense of surrealism starting to creep over him. "No, you don't," he said slowly. "I live here."

Asuka smirked. "Oh, it seems like Misato didn't tell you yet," she said. "You're being dumped for the new model."

"What? No, Misato wouldn't do that to me!" Shinji protested, even though a part of him couldn't help but wonder. "You must have it wrong!"

Asuka shrugged. "If you're so sure, you can wait here until Misato comes back and ask her," she said, as though speaking to a very foolish child. "In the meantime, I'm going to take a shower. If you try to peek, I'll kill you." She added in a menacing growl.

With that, she bounced off toward the bathroom, leaving a stunned Shinji in her wake.

"Oh god," Shinji groaned, collapsing onto the couch as he heard the sound of running water coming from the shower, "kill me now."

Just then, a wave of cold air seemed to blow over him, and the half-ghost shivered, exhaling a short plume of frigid breath that steamed in the apartment's relative warmth.

_I didn't really mean that! _He mentally groaned, even as he sprang to his feet and quickly switched to his ghost form, hands balling into fists as he looked around, ears pricked for any sound.

_"Beware!"_ a familiar voice howled, the sound seeming to come from all around him.

A stocky and rather short ghost with blue skin materialized in the center of the room, clad in denim overalls and a dark blue shirt. A small, woolen cap sat on his head, hiding the bald spot Shinji knew was there, and he wore work boots and gloves made of tough leather.

The tension immediately left Shinji's shoulders as he relaxed. "Oh, it's just you," he said. "Thank goodness, I was afraid I had a serious threat on my hands."

The Box Ghost glared daggers at the Ikiryo. "But I _am_ a serious threat!"

Shinji, who was quite well acquainted with this particular apparition and knew him to be one the least fearsome ones out there, was unconvinced. "Right, sure," he said. "Listen, I've had a really long day, and it's not even over yet. Do you think that maybe you could take off and come back some other day? I'm really not in the mood to do this."

The Box Ghost scowled, clenching his fists. "I'm not some…some joke that you can just dismiss, Ikiryo! I am a terrifying, undead spirit!" he snapped. "I'll teach you to underestimate me!"

The smaller ghost grit his teeth, a look of intense concentration on his face. Shinji still didn't feel worried; it wasn't unusual for the Box Ghost to make Herculean efforts at doing…something, only for it to fall flat.

Unfortunately, Shinji had failed to take their surroundings into account. The dozens and dozens of boxes spread across the room started to glow with an unearthly purplish light and rise into the air.

"What are you doing?" Shinji demanded, feeling anxious because of the Box Ghost for the first time he could remember.

The Box Ghost didn't answer. _"Beware my power!"_ he yelled instead.

Shinji leaped forward, intending to tackle the other ghost to the ground, but it was too late. Asuka's boxes _exploded_, sending a massive barrage of stuff right in Shinji's direction. The half-ghost found himself abruptly buried in a mountain of mostly clothes, and by the time he'd managed to get free, there was no sign of the Box Ghost in sight.

_Oh man, __**he**__ managed to one up me? I must be losing my touch,_ the Ikiryo thought. _And how am I supposed to clean up this mess before Asuka gets out of the shower?_ He wondered, looking at the disaster area the Box Ghost had turned the living room into.

"What the hell is going on here, Third Child?!"

_Oh, never mind,_ he thought, grimacing.

Slowly, Shinji turned to face Asuka. All the noise had apparently been enough to get her to come out of the shower to investigate. Her long hair was still dripping wet, and a dangerous light gleamed in her blue eyes.

"Well, you see…" he stammered.

"And why the _hell_ do you have that on you?" she demanded, pointing.

Blinking, Shinji followed the path of Asuka's finger, and his pupils suddenly shrank to pinpricks as he realized what she meant.

A red bra was draped over his shoulder. He didn't know much about women's undergarments, but he was pretty sure that the cups on this one were too small for it to belong to Misato.

"There was this ghost," he blurted out. "And he likes to haunt boxes, mostly cardboard. And he showed up here to…"

He continued babbling in this vein until he noticed that Asuka's face was rapidly becoming as red as her hair.

"You know what? Never mind," he said, then bolted for the door.

"Come back here, you pervert!" Asuka screeched as she gave chase.

* * *

Kensuke Aida was fiddling with his camera when his cell phone rang. As he was putting off doing his homework, and was eager to procrastinate further, he was only too quick to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Kensuke, it's me, Shinji," the voice of the Third Child replied.

"Oh, hey, what's up, Shin-man?" the otaku asked, now giving his full attention to the conversation.

"There's a new ghost on the loose in the city," Shinji answered. "He actually came to my apartment, but he slipped away before I could get him."

"Whoa," Kensuke breathed. Any ghost that could escape the famous Ikiryo had to be a serious threat indeed. "So are we going after him?"

"I can't," Shinji replied. "There's some…NERV stuff I have to deal with right now."

Kensuke frowned. "So why are you telling me about this now?" he asked.

"Well, I was thinking that you and Toji could go after this one without me," Shinji said. "If you two aren't busy, I mean."

Kensuke gasped, and his eyes actually began to sparkle. It was a fortunate thing that Shinji had called him; if the half-ghost boy could see his friend now, he might've run off in terror.

"You mean, I'm ready to solo?" he asked.

"Um, well, not _solo_, I do want you to take Toji," Shinji clarified awkwardly. "But I think you two are ready to hunt this particular ghost without me, yeah."

"Yes!" Kensuke cheered. "You won't regret this Shinji! Toji and me will catch that ghost no problem."

"Uh huh," Shinji replied. He sounded like he was wondering about the wisdom of what he'd just done, but the otaku didn't notice. "Just remember, if you happen to bump into Spectra, _don't_ fight her, got it?"

"Understood," Kensuke said, saluting crisply even though Shinji couldn't see it.

"I'm serious," Shinji said sternly. "You guys aren't ready to deal with her yet. Toji would probably want to fight her, so it'll be your job to make sure you retreat instead."

"I got it, Shinji, I got it," Kensuke reassured him. "No taking on Spectra without you."

"Okay," Shinji said, relenting. "You probably won't run into her, but I just wanted to make sure you knew you shouldn't fight her. I'd hate it if you two got hurt because I told you to go ghost hunting."

"Aw, don't worry, Shinji. We'll be fine," Kensuke said, but he was somewhat more serious than before.

"All right," Shinji said. "I…"

Kensuke suddenly heard a noise come from the background. The bespectacled boy wasn't sure, but he thought it was the sound of a girl shouting. Angrily.

"Uh, what's that?" he asked.

"Nothing," Shinji answered, a little too quickly. "Look, I need to do NERV stuff now. The ghost you're looking for has blue skin and wears denim overalls. Gotta go. Bye!" he said in a great rush before hanging up the phone.

"Huh, that was weird," Kensuke said, wondering exactly what kind of NERV stuff was taking up Shinji's time.

Then he shrugged and started dialing Toji's number. There was a ghost to be caught!

* * *

Misato sighed as she pulled onto her street. After the day she'd had, she didn't want to do anything besides change out of her uniform, grab a beer, and crash on her couch in front of the TV.

Unfortunately, her status as both the Ops Director and the legal guardian to Shinji and Asuka meant that she simply didn't have that luxury.

Entering the lot for her apartment building and pulling into a parking space, the purple haired woman released a soft sigh as she popped the trunk of her car and pulled out a large boom box. She was in for a very long few days.

She didn't realize just _how_ long until she heard the Second Child's shouting.

"Quit hiding, you damn pervert!" Asuka practically screamed. "I know you're hiding around here somewhere! Come out so I can—!"

"_Asuka!_" Misato barked, cutting off the Second Child. "What in god's name are you doing?" she asked.

"Misato!" the redhead said, just noticing the Ops Director for the first time. She jogged over to the older woman. "I was just settling in when Shinji came back, and he didn't know that you're kicking him out yet!"

"What?" Misato asked.

But Asuka wasn't done. "And when I went to take a shower, the pervert decided to ransack my stuff and started playing with my underwear! I've been trying to find him ever since then, but I swear the damn idiot keeps _disappearing_ right before I can catch him."

Misato pinched the bridge of her nose. She hadn't even told the two pilots about her plan (well, Kaji's plan, really) yet, and already it seemed doomed to failure.

"Shinji!" she called, looking around the parking lot for the Third Child. "Come out! I promise I won't let Asuka kill you!"

The Third Child popped up from behind a car, and Misato blinked. She had just walked past that spot, and she would have _sworn_ that there was no one there.

Reluctantly, and looking ready to bolt at any moment, Shinji approached the two women. "Are you really kicking me out, Misato?"

He looked so small and sad right then that the purple-haired woman actually had to resist the urge to throw her arms around him and comfort him.

"Yes!" Asuka snapped.

"No," the Ops Director said, snapping out of her thoughts and forcibly pushing her maternal feelings aside.

"What?!" Asuka demanded. "How can you even think about making me live with him after he did, after he…!" the redhead trailed off into incomprehensible sputtering, apparently too furious to even form proper sentences.

Misato turned to the Third Child. "Shinji, is what Asuka said true?" she asked, even though she didn't believe the redhead's accusations for a single second.

"No!" he exclaimed, then reached up to nervously rub the back of his head. "Well, sort of. I mean, okay, I got nosey and started looking through all the boxes. I'm sorry about that." He added, looking at Asuka.

The Second responded to his apology with a furious glare.

"But I wasn't being a pervert looking to play with Asuka's underwear, I swear I wasn't!" Shinji continued, turning to address Misato again.

"Then why did you have my damn bra draped across your shoulder?!" she demanded.

"It just…happened!" Shinji insisted.

"A likely story!" Asuka retorted.

Misato sighed. "Enough," she said, firmly. "Shinji, Asuka, I realize that you two got off on the wrong foot, but you are both Evangelion pilots. You're going to be working together closely, and you need to get along. Now shake hands."

The redhead crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, glaring daggers at Shinji. For his own part, the Third Child looked afraid to offer Asuka his hand, as though she might use it to execute some kind of jujitsu throw on him.

"_Shake hands_," Misato repeated, and this time her words dripped with menace.

Huffing, Asuka very reluctantly held her hand out. Shinji did the same, and the two shook.

Misato noticed that Asuka was squeezing Shinji's hand for all she was worth, though. She was mildly surprised when she glanced at the Third Child's face and didn't see so much as a flicker of pain cross his features.

"There," she said. "Good. Now, as I was going to tell you before I found you two playing hide and seek in the parking lot, we have a plan for dealing with the Angel. However, it requires both Unit One and Unit Two to attack both halves of the thing in a perfectly synchronized assault. Which means that by the time the Angel recovers, you two need to be in a perfect sync with each other. Like people who've been fighting at each other's side for years, in fact."

"But we only have a few days!" Asuka protested.

"Which is why you two will be living, eating, and sleeping together for the next few days," Misato said. "It's going to be an intense experience, but we'll get it done."

"_What?!_" Asuka screeched. "You can't expect me to spend so much time that close with this pervert, after what he did!"

"Asuka, in all the time I've lived with Shinji, he's never given me any reason to think he was some deviant, so if he says that he just got nosey, I believe him," she said. "And anyway, I don't plan to abandon you two for a week. I'll protect you from the big bad Shinji, Asuka."

The Second Child responded to that with an angry glare.

"Okay, let's get started!" Misato said in a very cheerful tone. "We've got a lot of work to do!"

* * *

"Are you_ sure_ that this ghost Shinji called you about is in there?" Toji asked, giving a skeptical look at the strip mall where Kensuke had lead him to.

"Yeah, pretty sure," the otaku replied, fiddling with the specter detector. "That's where this thing says he is, anyway."

"Okay, but why would a ghost hide out in a women's shoe store?" Toji asked.

Kensuke tilted his head slightly to the side as he pondered the question. He knew that if he was a ghost, _he_ certainly wouldn't be haunting an outlet store, of all places. "Maybe the ghost is a girl?" he suggested. "Girls really seem to like shoes."

"But you told me Shinji said the ghost is a guy," Toji pointed out. "Unless…do you think we found Spectra, instead?"

Kensuke couldn't tell if the jock's expression was eager or anxious, but either way, he didn't like it.

"I don't think so," he said. "Unless I'm reading this gizmo wrong, the ghost signal isn't that strong, and Spectra's supposed to be really, really powerful. So, not her."

"Then why's the ghost in a damn women's shoe store?" Toji pressed, returning to the original question.

"I don't know," Kensuke said, exasperated. "Look, the way I figure it, living people do weird things for no good reason sometimes. Why should dead people be any different?"

Toji blinked. "…that's surprisingly deep, man," he said.

"I'm a deep person. Deep down, anyway," Kensuke smirked. "Now let's go, already."

"Wait a second," Toji put the breaks on again.

"Now what?" Kensuke scowled, impatient.

"We're two guys about to walk into a women's shoe store," the jock pointed out. "Don't you think someone in there will find it weird?"

"Oh, true," Kensuke admitted. "Okay, if anybody asks, your sister's birthday is coming up, and you want to get her a gift certificate."

"My sister's too young to wear anything from this place," Toji said, looking scandalized.

Kensuke rolled his eyes. "But no one here knows that, dummy," he countered.

"Then why are you here?" Toji asked.

Kensuke was already making his way to the store. "Moral support, obviously," he said. "Now come on, already. We've wasted too much time as it is."

Shaking his head, the jock finally fell in step with the otaku. "I could probably kick your nerdy ass without even breaking a sweat," he mused, speaking as much to himself as to Kensuke, "so why are you giving the orders?"

"Because I'm the brains of this duo," Kensuke answered, just as they went inside.

A little bell attached the door heralded their entrance into the store, and a clerk looked up, frowning as she saw a pair of teenage boys walking in.

"Hello," she greeted them. "Can I help you two gentlemen?"

"Uh…" Toji stammered, until Kensuke elbowed him. "Um, I mean, my sister's birthday is coming up, and she likes this place. Do you sell gift certificates?"

The clerk's expression brightened now that the mystery was solved. "Of course," she said. "Please, come this way."

Toji reluctantly followed her, only now realizing that he'd have to drop most of his allowance on a gift certificate that he was never going to use.

Meanwhile, Kensuke snuck off into the aisles where shoes upon shoes were on display, once again fiddling with the specter detector. He was getting very close now, but there was no sign of the ghost to be seen.

Goosebumps started popping up on Kensuke's arms, as what he was actually doing finally hit him. He was hunting a ghost, a being which could become invisible and ambush him at any moment.

In this contest, he was like a mouse picking a fight with a lion. He had no powers, and he had to wait for the ghost to appear. Meanwhile, his foe boasted who knew what kind of supernatural abilities and could strike as his leisure, and from any direction…

An empty shoebox abruptly flew off the shelf and whacked him in the side of the head. Kensuke released an incredibly loud, incredibly girlish scream.

In an instant, Toji and the clerk appeared at the mouth of the aisle. "What happened?" the clerk asked.

"Uh, well, you see…" Kensuke stammered, desperately trying to come up with some story that wouldn't make him sound like a liar or a crazy man.

The clerk scowled, obviously deciding that he and Toji were up to no good after all.

Then another shoebox flew off the shelf and hit her in the gut.

"What the…? How did you do that?" the clerk demanded of Kensuke.

"I didn't!" Kensuke insisted. "Really, I—!"

Several more boxes flew off the shelves, hitting all three people present. A disembodied cackling filled the store.

_"BEWARE!"_ the voice howled.

Then, the ghost appeared, hovering mere feet away from Kensuke.

From a purely objective standpoint, he wasn't really all that frightening, looking like a short, stocky janitor with blue skin.

However, the clerk wasn't really up to looking at things objectively. She screamed in horror and fled, bolting from the store in record time.

"Blast him!" Toji shouted, pulling out an ecto-pistol from his pocket and firing.

After a moment, Kensuke did likewise, drawing his own weapon and firing with a shaking hand.

Obviously deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, the ghost made a hasty retreat, flying toward the back of the store and then straight through the wall there.

"I shall return!" his voice boomed before he vanished.

In the ringing silence that followed, Kensuke looked around the shop. It didn't exactly appear as though a tornado had blown through it, but empty shoeboxes were scattered everywhere.

"That…could've gone better," he decided.

"Yeah, now I have this stupid certificate for 2000 yen that can only be spent here," Toji said mournfully, looking at the piece of paper in his hand.

Kensuke rolled his eyes. "Let's just get out of here before that lady comes back," he said. "If we're lucky, we shouldn't have too much trouble finding that ghost again."

"Yeah," Toji agreed. "Man, what kind of ghost is he, anyway? He attacked us using _shoeboxes_."

* * *

Shinji had no idea where Misato had gotten the machine that basically combined Twister and Dance Dance Revolution. All he knew was that he hated the thing with a burning passion.

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

BZZD!

The familiar and detestable sound of the buzzer filled the apartment, letting the two EVA pilots know that they'd fallen out of sync again. Exhausted, Shinji allowed himself to flop down onto the mat.

_Who in the world thought up this crazy idea?_ He wondered, looking at the evil machine which he and Asuka were using to train. _There __**has**__ to be a better way to become synchronized with a person in such a short period of time._

Even if there wasn't, he mused, it _had_ to be possible to do this without the goofy matching outfits, which consisted of black spandex and T-shirts with musical notes on them.

"Idiot!" Asuka scowled, glaring down at him. "You messed up again!"

The Third Child managed to summon up the energy to roll over onto his back. Since she was standing, the redhead towered over him, but Shinji was in no mood to be intimidated.

"Why do you always assume I was the one who screwed up?" he asked. "You've missed a few steps, too, you know."

"I have not!" the redhead barked. "Now get up before I kick you in the ribs! We have to keep practicing!"

Loathe though he was to admit that the Second Child possessed any positive qualities, it was impossible to deny that she was a hard worker, at least.

"If I don't take a breather, I'm going to collapse the next time we go through the routine," Shinji protested.

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Fine, ten minute break," she said. "Hmph, what kind of boy is ready to drop before a girl doing the same thing is even winded?" she asked. Asuka ostensibly made this comment to herself, but she said it with more than enough volume to ensure Shinji heard it.

The Third Child didn't take the bait, instead just giving her a dark look as she headed to the kitchen to get herself a drink.

_Seriously, as soon as this is over, your ass is haunted,_ the half-ghost thought at Asuka.

Shinji allowed himself a small sigh as he lay sprawled out on the dance mat. If only the Kasuga twins were Evangelion pilots, too, he mused. After all, he'd been working with both of them for years; he could probably pull off the mission with either of them, even without any practice on the stupid dance mat first.

_Yeah, as though that will ever happen,_ he thought grumpily. Then he smirked. _On the other hand, maybe I could duplicate myself and pilot both Evangelions at once._

It was an amusing thought, not least of because of how angry it would probably make the Second Child, but he knew it wasn't going to happen, especially since he still had no plans to reveal his secret.

Still…there _had_ to be some way he could use his ghost powers to make this situation better, or at least less torturous.

A sly smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Asuka complained as she surveyed the interior of the fridge, her back to him. "Isn't there anything in this place besides water and beer?"

Ignoring her, Shinji very quickly changed into his ghost form, becoming invisible just before the redhead turned to investigate the flash of light that accompanied his transformation.

"What the…?" she frowned. "Where the hell did you disappear to, baka?" she demanded.

Shinji smirked at her choice of words. It took a great deal of willpower to keep himself from answering her while remaining invisible.

"If you're in my room, going through my underwear draw, I swear I'll—"

Shinji overshadowed her then, and she abruptly fell silent as the half-ghost took control of her mortal vessel.

"Not even winded?" he scoffed, opening and closing her hands experimentally. "She's almost as tired as I am."

Walking over to a nearby cabinet, Shinji studied Asuka's reflection in the thing's glass doors. "I am the great Second Child, and if you so much as look at me sideways, I'll yell and shout at you like a little brat," he said in a perfect imitation of the redhead's voice (not difficult since he was possessing her and all) while throwing her hair back in an exaggerated fashion.

_Okay, enough fooling around,_ he decided, heading over to the dance machine and setting it to solo mode. Taking a deep breath, he started to run through the routine again, as Asuka.

Doing the stupid dance while overshadowing Asuka would give him a better understanding of how she moved and make it easier for him to synchronize to her. Also, while people didn't remember being overshadowed, Shinji had often seen signs that the experience stuck with them on a subconscious level. Seeing as how the whole ordeal they were going through was to get them mirroring and complementing one another's movements in combat without even thinking about it, that would be extremely useful.

Or at least, so Shinji hoped.

BING!

The machine released a happy chime as he finished the routine without missing a step. It was the first time he'd ever heard it make that particular sound.

"Not bad," he remarked. "At least there's one way we can do this togeth—"

He was cut off in mid-word as he suddenly felt Asuka mentally lashing out at him, something he'd never experienced before when overshadowing someone. He nearly doubled over, clutching at her head as he tried to reassert his control.

Asuka would not be denied.

_GET OUT!_

It more a blast of raw emotion than an actual, coherent demand, but the meaning was all too clear.

It was also completely undeniable. The next thing Shinji knew, he was no longer in control of Asuka's body. In fact, he was sailing across the room. He collided rather painfully with the far wall and then tumbled to the floor, landing in a heap.

He only barely managed to change back into his human form before the dazed expression left the redhead's face, and her eyes focused.

"What are you doing just laying around?" she demanded. "Break's over! Back to work, Third Child!"

Shinji sighed. "Yes, Asuka."

Getting up, he switched the machine back to two-person mode, then dutifully moved over to his mat.

Yet as he waited for the music to start, he couldn't help but steal a few sideways glances at Asuka. He'd never seen or even heard of a normal person who could resist and successfully expel a ghost trying to overshadow her, so how did Asuka do it? Could there be something…ghostly about her?

It seemed unlikely. With all the close contact he and Asuka had been forced into recently, he had a hard time seeing how he could've missed any spectral traits she might've had. But what other explanation was there?

_Maybe…maybe she just really hates the idea of being controlled,_ he thought, just before the music started.

* * *

"Are you sure that the ghost is here?" Toji asked. "I mean, this is almost as weird as the lady's shoe store."

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm getting pretty good at working this thing," Kensuke replied, holding up the specter detector. "Besides, it's a creepy abandoned old warehouse. That seems like exactly the kind of place a ghost would hang out."

"I guess," Toji conceded, squinting as he struggled to see anything through one very dirty window. "But there's nothing in there but a bunch of moldy old cardboard boxes."

"Yeah, so?" Kensuke asked. "Ghosts don't need stuff. Now are we gonna go in, or do you wanna stand out here talking about it all day?"

"Fine," Toji grumbled, taking out an ecto pistol. "But don't freak out this time, okay? Seriously, if you scream like a girl again the second the ghost does anything, I'm going to catch him without you."

Kensuke grumbled about how this wasn't Toji's call to make, since Shinji was the leader of the Ikiryo-gumi and all. However, he eventually promised to keep his head this time.

Each taking a deep breath, the two boys walked into the warehouse.

"Hello?" Toji called, almost on reflex.

Kensuke swatted him on the shoulder, giving him a disapproving look.

"Sorry," the jock said. "Where exactly is he, though? I don't see him anywhere." He added, looking around.

The otaku pushed a few buttons and twisted a some of the dials on the specter detector, then shook his head. "I'm not sure. I don't think this thing can get that precise," he admitted. "All I can tell is that the ghost's around there somewhere." He gestured vaguely toward one of the far corners of the warehouse.

"So how do we flush him out, then?" Toji asked.

"Uh…"

The jock palmed his face. "I wish Shinji was here," he grumbled.

Before the two could contemplate this unexpected problem further, the old boxes that were stacked everywhere slowly started to move, as though a gust of wind was blowing through the warehouse. Only a moment later, the boxes actually rose up off the ground, the cardboard flaps opening and closing repeatedly, each one almost resembling the jaws of some kind of enormous beast.

Then, in the midst of the swarm of animated boxes, the short, dumpy ghost himself appeared.

"_Beware!_" he yelled.

Keeping his ecto-pistol at the read, Toji leaned over toward the otaku and started talking in an undertone. "Okay, Ken, now just—"

Kensuke released a loud, wordless war cry before the jock could finish, charging forward and firing his own ecto-pistol wildly. His shots were terribly off, mostly missing the ghost by a mile and hitting boxes instead, but they did leave the spectral janitor looking very shocked.

Toji just sighed in a very long suffering sort of way. "I swear, that crazy nerd is going to be the death of me…" he muttered before he followed Kensuke, joining the fray.

* * *

"Now that's funny." Hikari Horaki commented to herself, confused.

The representative of class 2-A was on a mission, namely to deliver Shinji and Asuka's homework to them. After all, just because they were training to defeat the latest Angel and thus save humanity didn't mean they should be allowed to fall behind in their schoolwork.

Of course, she only intended to deliver Asuka's homework; her plan had been to get Suzuhara or Aida to bring Shinji his. Unfortunately, both of those two stooges had claimed to have "super important business" to deal with and had cried off, leaving her stuck with both deliveries.

She had been irritated, to put it mildly, but her annoyance had transformed into puzzlement when she'd checked the school's records to find out where they lived and discovered the same address listed for both of the Evangelion pilots.

_It must just be a mistake,_ she thought as she walked up the stairs of the apartment building. _I'm sure only one of them lives here. With my luck today, NERV is keeping the other one halfway across Tokyo-3 from here._

After a minute of searching, she managed to find the correct door. With a small sigh, Hikari pressed the doorbell.

"Coming!" two voices called in unison, causing the pig-tailed girl to blink.

A moment later, the door opened, and Hikari retreated a step in horror at the sight of Shinji and Asuka in matching outfits, which consisted largely of black spandex.

"What the…what are…?" Hikari sputtered, before finally reaching the one, inescapable conclusion. "You're living in sin!"

"No, it's not like that!" Shinji and Asuka protested, still speaking in stereo.

"Then what _is_ it like?!" Hikari demanded, not believing them for a second. "And why are you two talking like that?"

"It's just the training! I swear!" Shinji and Asuka replied.

"Training? What kind of training…?"

"Excuse me," a new voice broke into the conversation.

Hikari turned to see a woman with long purple hair standing in the hallway, along with the ever silent Rei Ayanami.

"My name's Misato Katsuragi, and I'm Shinji and Asuka's guardian," she introduced herself. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Hikari Horaki, I'm in Shinji and Asuka's class," the pig-tailed girl introduced herself, feeling suddenly awkward in the presence of the adult who apparently condoned…whatever it was the two EVA pilots were doing exactly. "I, uh, brought their homework." She added.

Misato smiled. "How nice of you," she said. "Won't you come in for a drink? I'm sure you must be parched after tromping all the way here in this heat."

"Um, I'm not sure," Hikari stammered, which was to say she wasn't sure she wanted to go into the potential den of charnel sin. "I mean, I should probably start heading home…"

"Nonsense, I insist," Misato said firmly, ushering the reluctant girl inside her apartment.

To Hikari's relief, though, nothing inappropriate happened once she was inside the apartment. Misato handed her a can of fruit juice (while getting a can of beer for herself), and proceeded to explain the purpose of the bizarre training while Shinji and Asuka bounced around on the dance mat.

"Oh, I see," the class rep said as the Ops Director finished, the pieces all finally clicking into place. "So this is necessary to defeat the latest Angel."

"Exactly," Misato confirmed. "Unfortunately, they aren't making progress as quickly as I would have hoped…"

"Really?" Hikari asked. "They look like they're doing pretty well to me."

"Huh?" Misato blinked.

Then she sent a spray of beer right onto the First Child when she realized that Shinji and Asuka were running through the routine in near perfect sync with one another, neither missing a beat.

"Oh, sorry, Rei," Misato chuckled nervously. "Let me get you a towel."

The blue-haired girl's only response was to give the Ops Director a look that was both completely blank and utterly frosty, as only Rei Ayanami could.

By the time Misato returned with the promised towel, Shinji and Asuka had finished. The display on the machine proclaimed that they had reached 98 percent synchronization with each other's movements.

"Not that I'm complaining," Misato began, "but how the heck did you two get so good at this so fast?"

Standing up, the German girl tossed her long hair back with a little flick of her head. "Really, Misato, I would've thought that you'd have more faith in my ability to whip baka-Shinji here into shape," she boasted.

Behind her, the Third Child just rolled his eyes.

* * *

Several days later, the eve of the battle was upon them, and Shinji and Asuka were alone in the apartment.

"Hey, Third, do you know when Misato's coming back?" the redhead called through the bathroom door as she changed into her pajamas.

"She just called and said she'd be working all night," Shinji replied from the living room, where he was reading a magazine and enjoying a blessed few minutes alone. "So, she's not."

"Is that so?" Asuka asked, grinning cheekily as she emerged from the bathroom. "Then we're all alone tonight."

"Huh?" he said, looking up from his magazine.

The relationship between himself and the Second Child had become, if not friendly, then certainly a lot more cordial since they had started to get better at the synchronization training. However, the redhead's emotions still remained as capricious as the weather, and so he wasn't the least bit surprised when she abruptly assumed an annoyed expression.

"If Misato's coming home tonight, then I'm not sleeping in the middle of the damn living room," she proclaimed, picking up her futon and carrying it over to her own room.

Shinji just mentally shrugged in response to this. He and Asuka had consistently been getting perfect scores on the dance machine all day, as well of most of the previous day, so he wasn't about to insist they sleep in the same room again. Especially since he had never really believed that it was helping them, anyway.

"This is my impenetrable Wall of Jericho," Asuka proclaimed as she grabbed the sliding screen door to her room. "Don't you dare try to come in here." And with that, she closed the screen.

Fumio, who had studied numerous religious texts in search of ways to combat ghosts, would have known that the Wall of Jericho was famous for _falling_. Had he been in Shinji's place, he probably would have tried to act on the hint, too.

The actual Third Child, however, had no clue that there might just be a hidden meaning to Asuka's words. With a shrug, he decided it was time to go to bed himself. Turning off the lights, he crawled into his own futon and put in the earbuds of his MP3 player, starting up his nighttime playlist. He was asleep within minutes.

The next thing he knew, he was stirred into partial wakefulness by the sound of the apartment's toilet flushing. Shinji vaguely realized that Asuka must have gotten up to use the bathroom, then he closed his eyes again, ready to drift off once more.

Then Asuka lay down next to him, and his eyes popped open in surprise. For a brief moment, he almost asked the redhead what she was doing out of her sheer surprise, then he realized that she was sound asleep. She must have sleep walked to her current position.

_God, she looks so…innocent when she's asleep,_ he decided, his brain not even trying to figure out how to respond to this situation yet.

She looked innocent, but not peaceful. The redhead's face was twisted into a grimace, and her sleep was fitful; it was obvious that she was having a bad dream.

_Now what could give the "Great Asuka Langley Soryu" nightmares?_ He wondered.

For most people, this question would've pretty much been moot. Shinji, however, was a different story. About a year ago, he had faced a ghost who had actually called himself the Nightmare Ninja, and in the process, Shinji had learned how to use his own ghost powers to peer into people's dreams.

Moving as slowly and carefully as he could, Shinji pulled an arm out from under his blanket, reaching out to touch Asuka's forehead.

_What the hell are you doing?_ Part of his mind demanded. _You shouldn't be doing this!_

Shinji hesitated, his conscience fighting a fierce battle with his curiosity.

It was so _hard_ to not be nosey when you had powers that would ensure you could always get away with it.

His hand continued its short journey toward Asuka.

"Ma…" she mumbled in her sleep, and Shinji abruptly froze.

What?

"Mama…" Asuka murmured, clearly enough for the Third Child to understand this time.

Then, a single tear stared making its way down her cheek.

Shinji pulled his hand back, feeling enormously ashamed with himself. With a soft sigh, he carefully got up, retrieved Asuka's blanket from her room, and covered her with it. Then he grabbed his own futon, moving it safe distance away from hers and lay down again.

"Good night, Asuka," he whispered as his eyes slid closed.

* * *

For Shinji, most of the next morning passed him by in a blur, so that when he found himself in Unit One's entry plug, he could barely remember how he got there. Or what he'd had for breakfast that morning, for that matter.

He wasn't quite sure when it had happened, but at some point that day it had finally sunken in that the fate of the world probably rested upon his and Asuka's ability to execute the routine they'd been practicing without the slightest mistake.

He…wasn't quite used to those kind of stakes yet.

_I feel nauseous,_ Shinji thought as he sat inside the entry plug. He took a deep 'breath' of LCL.

A communications window labeled "From EVA-02" popped up inside the plug.

"Ready, Shinji?" Asuka asked, smirking cheerfully. "Just stick to the routine."

He forced a weak smile. He had judiciously avoided mentioning the way he'd seen her crying in her sleep last night while calling out for her mother, but ever since then, he had wondered how much of the Asuka he usually saw was just a façade.

"Right, the routine," he agreed. "This'll all be over in sixty-two seconds."

A window labeled "From Command" appeared in both entry plugs.

"I'd wish you two luck, but I don't think you need it," Misato said. "You have the routine so down pat, I almost feel sorry for the Angel."

Shinji was surprised at how much the simple words of encouragement served to decrease the tension building up inside of him. He gave Misato a small smile and was about to thank her when another voice broke in.

"The target has entered our range!" Aoba reported.

"Launch the EVA's!" Misato ordered. "Commence the attack!"

The music started, blasting through the command bridge in NERV as well as inside the Children's entry plugs. What followed for the next minute and two seconds would later be described as poetry in motion…giant robot style.

For that one minute, Shinji and Asuka fought together in perfect synch, a week's worth of work (along with the aftereffects of a little ghostly possession) culminating in a single perfect performance that ended with two feet each the size of a tanker truck slamming into the Seventh Angel's twin cores.

"We've done it," Misato said triumphantly as an explosion that left a massive crater in the ground formed.

"Well, was there ever any doubt?" Asuka asked arrogantly as the fire and smoke from the explosion cleared, revealing the two Evangelions, both of which stood in the graceful, perfectly identical stances they had landed in, just as their batteries had run dry.

Misato released a snicker.

"What's so funny?!" Asuka demanded.

"Your EVAs look like a pair of gymnasts," Misato said. "It looks like they stuck the landing!" she exclaimed, mimicking a sports announcer.

"You shut up!" Asuka barked.

On the highest tier of the command center, Fuyutski sighed and ran a hand across his face. "Honestly, sometimes I don't know who's more likely to embarrass this organization," he mumbled, "the Children or the adult members of the staff."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Shinji was heading back to the apartment, just tromping along the sidewalk like a normal teen who hadn't played an integral part of defeating a giant monster that morning.

Asuka had headed off to celebrate her victory with her friend Hikari, and Misato was stuck filling in after action reports at NERV, which meant that he could spend a few hours blissfully alone. After spending nearly every waking second with the redhead, Shinji was very much looking forward to it.

He had just reached the apartment building when he spotted two familiar figures approaching him. Toji and Kensuke had apparently come to visit him.

"Hi guys," he called. "What's…?"

He trailed off as they drew close enough for him to get a good look at them, realizing that his two new friends had a distinctly bruised and battered appearance. Not only that, but Kensuke had bits of cardboard in his hair.

_Don't tell me that the __**Box Ghost**__ did that to them,_ he thought.

"Hey, Shinji. We caught that ghost," Kensuke said proudly, holding up a sealed Ikari thermos.

"We would've caught him sooner, but the master hunter here couldn't decide whether to scream like a girl or charge toward the ghost like an idiot," Toji grumbled.

"Shut up, it wasn't like that!" Kensuke protested. "It wasn't like that at all!" he repeated, addressing the half-ghost this time.

"Oh," Shinji said awkwardly, reaching out to take the thing from them. "Cool. Uh, good job, guys."

"So, do you think we're ready to solo on a regular basis?" Kensuke asked eagerly.

"Maybe track down Spectra?" Toji added.

"_No!_" Shinji exclaimed, before he could stop himself. Then he coughed awkwardly and continued in a more moderate tone. "No, Spectra's way more powerful than that ghost, and anyway, I don't expect something like this to happen again. I should be able to go with you guys the next time a ghost pops up."

"Okay, cool," Toji said, placated. "Hey, do you want a gift certificate from a women's shoe store?"

"…_what?_"

* * *

**Author's Notes:** And so the Box Ghost makes his appearance, as everyone probably knew he would eventually.

Whether or not Shinji should actually spy on Asuka's dreams was something I debated about quite a bit, to the point that I actually wrote a version of the scene where he did so. However, that just felt like too jerkish of a move for Shinji, so I eventually decided to go with this version.

Anyway, thanks as alway to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta reader as well.

* * *

Omake

Nightmares and Dreamscapes

_God, she looks so…innocent when she's asleep,_ he decided, his brain not even trying to figure out how to respond to this situation yet.

She looked innocent, but not peaceful. The redhead's face was twisted into a grimace, and her sleep was fitful; it was obvious that she was having a bad dream.

_Now what could give the "Great Asuka Langley Soryu" nightmares?_ He wondered.

For most people, this question would've pretty much been moot. Shinji, however, was a different story. About a year ago, he had faced a ghost who had actually called himself the Nightmare Ninja, and in the process, Shinji had learned how to use his own ghost powers to peer into people's dreams.

Moving as slowly and carefully as he could, Shinji pulled an arm out from under his blanket, reaching out to touch Asuka's forehead.

The instant he made contact with her, he ceased to be in Misato's apartment. Instead, he found himself in a very medieval looking chamber, which was dominated by a massive throne.

A massive throne that appeared to be made out of skulls.

On it sat none other than Asuka Langley Soryu, who was looking regal and terrible, while dreams versions of Kaji and Shinji himself fanned her with great palm leaves. The Second Child was holding a riding crop, he noticed.

Her eyes locked with Shinji's real self, the half-ghost quickly pulled out her dream, terrified.

His sense of horror only grew as he saw that she was smiling now.

"I'm just going to sleep over there, now," he announced to no one in particular, grabbing his pillow and blankets before fleeing back to his room.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Fire and Water**

**"Wait, wait, wait. Let me get this straight,"** the voice of Fumio Kusaga crackled through Shinji's Ikari-phones, **"you sent those two guys who know you're the Ikiryo out on a mission without you, and they came back several days later, all battered and bruised…because of the **_**Box Ghost?!**_**"**

The male Kasuga twin seemed like he wanted to say something else, but his words completely dissolved into a fit of laughter.

Pacing around the roof of the apartment building he currently called home, Shinji scowled. "Fumio, it isn't funny!"

**"Yeah…it…it kind of is!"** Fumio forced out between giggles.

"No, it's really not," Shinji growled. "I was hoping that these guys could be my backup while I'm here, but if _that's_ what happens when I send them out after the Box Ghost…"

That quickly made Fumio get a lot more serious. **"Oh, I see what you mean. That is a problem. Maybe it's for the best if these guys don't help you hunt ghosts."**

"What am I supposed to do? Tell them to give me back the ghost weapons I gave them and go home?" Shinji asked.

**"It might ultimately be for the best,"** Kamiko said gently, breaking into the conversation. **"I know how much you hate to say 'no' to people, Shinji, but if they're not cut out for ghost hunting, they shouldn't be doing it. I mean, they could get hurt, or worse."**

Shinji cringed at that thought. "I know. Believe me, the thought's crossed my mind. But Toji's in this because Spectra attacked his sister. I don't think he'll stop if I cut him out of the Ikiryo-gumi. And I _know_ that if Toji goes after Spectra, Kensuke will go with him." he said. "Besides, I need backup. I don't operate all that well on my own. And we're probably being too hard on these guys, anyway. I mean, it's not like we were so great at fighting ghosts when we started." He added.

**"We were ten years old when we started fighting ghosts,"** Fumio pointed out. **"And we **_**never**_** had any trouble with the Box Ghost."**

**"Shinji, if you're really intent on keeping these guys with you when you fight ghosts, then maybe you should try and train them some more,"** Kamiko suggested. **"Because they're really not ready if the Box Ghost can give them a serious fight."**

"Yeah, that might not be a bad idea," Shinji said. "Look, I gotta go. I'll talk to you guys some more later."

**"Okay, Shinji. Good luck with the newbies."** Fumio said.

**"Bye, Shinji."**

"Later." He turned off the Ikari-phones and stuffed them into his pocket, then descended the building's stairs, heading back into the apartment.

The moment he opened the door, he found himself wishing that he'd loitered on the roof just a little bit longer, because it was obvious that he'd walked into the middle of an argument.

"Any good officer knows that the best offense is a good defense, but we're always waiting for the Angels to attack us!" Asuka was ranting, while Misato sat at the kitchen table looking mildly exasperated. "We should be the ones attacking them! That way we wouldn't have to adapt to their schedule!"

Shinji would have ducked back outside if he couldn't gotten away with it, but the front door was in plain view of the kitchen, where his two flat mates were. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked instead. "I can give you a few minutes if you'd like." He added hopefully.

"You stay right there," Asuka ordered him sharply. "Shinji, Misato just told me that we won't be allowed to go on the school trip!"

The Third Child blinked, staring dumbly at the redhead for a few seconds. Between trying to master piloting an Evangelion and training two rookie ghost hunters, he was only vaguely aware of the plans at school for a trip.

"To Okinawa, stupid!" Asuka exclaimed, obviously seeing the confusion on his face. "Misato says we can't go!"

"Okay," he said slowly, "so?"

"_So?_" Asuka echoed, indignant and furious. "We pilot Evangelions to save this city, and this is our reward?! Doesn't that make you at least a little angry?"

"Well, I'm not jumping for joy," Shinji allowed, "but I grew up in a costal town. I've been to the beach hundreds of times, so it's not a big deal for me."

"So it doesn't bother you that we're being punished for our service?" Asuka demanded. "You don't care about the principle of the thing?"

"Not really," Shinji said, shrugging.

Scowling, Asuka crossed her arms and turned away from the Third Child. "And he calls himself a man," she muttered under her breath, but loudly enough that Shinji could easily hear her.

Shinji just rolled his eyes at that, refusing to take the bait.

"In any case," Misato said loudly, breaking back into the conversation. There was a rather disturbing smile on her face that reminded Shinji of a predator. "The two of you should look at this as a chance to get ahead for a change, or did you think I hadn't seen these report cards?" she asked, holding up a pair of thumb drives.

Shinji and Asuka both cringed.

"The school sent these directly to me, and I have to say that I'm _very_ disappointed with the both of you," Misato continued, pressing her attack.

"You can't be serious!" Asuka exclaimed.

For once, Shinji found himself agreeing with the redhead. "We do have to focus on EVA above everything else," he said, neglecting to add that he also had to worry about ghosts. "I think it's pretty understandable if our grades drop a little."

"Oh no, your EVA training is a good reason to not be in any extracurricular activities, not to be doing poorly in your classes," Misato said. "I expect both of you to use this time to get your averages up."

"I already have a college degree!" Asuka exclaimed, looking ready to explode.

Shinji blinked. "You do?"

"Yes, I graduated earlier this year," the redhead answered proudly, her fury and indignation taking a backseat to her pride, at least for a moment.

"If you can't pass junior high classes, then you need a refresher course," Misato said. "We're not arguing about this anymore. You two are going to spend part of your break doing some makeup work. Period."

Asuka glared at their guardian for a long moment, but apparently even she didn't dare to argue further. With a loud, wordless noise of disgust, she stormed off to her room.

Shinji loitered in the kitchen for a moment, not quite sure what to do with himself after that. He glanced at Misato, who was wearing a very smug expression. Feeling annoyed, he wordlessly headed to his own room.

_I guess Toji and Kensuke won't be the only ones who'll have some extra studying to do,_ he thought as he gathered up all the material he had on ghosts.

Satisfied that he'd gotten everything, he made a mental note to give it all to them, silently cursing NERV for monitoring him and thus making just emailing anything to them a very bad idea.

_Now all I have to do is hope that a little extra knowledge improves their performance in the field by a lot,_ he thought grimly.

* * *

The next day, a plane bound for Okinawa took off from Tokyo-3, carrying Tokyo-3 Municipal Junior High School's Class 2-A, minus the trio of Evangelion pilots. Toji, who had gained a window seat by virtue of being significantly bigger and stronger than Kensuke, gazed out at the endless expanse of blue sea.

With a sigh, the jock grabbed a small pamphlet on Okinawa that was held in a pocket on the back of the seat in front of his and flipped it open. Apparently, the island had been almost totally wiped off the map by the increase in water levels, but the Japanese government had used it as a test run for some new method of restoring submerged land masses. It had worked exceedingly well, and Okinawa had largely been returned to the way it had been prior to Second Impact. The revolutionary new technique for rebuilding landmasses was soon going to be employed in…other places.

The pamphlet listed them, of course, but Toji's eyes were starting to glaze over. It wasn't going to be a long flight, but already he was feeling bored and antsy.

_Man, I shouldn't have made fun of Shinji about not getting to go,_ he thought regretfully. _I might've been able to get him to loan me his MP3 player._

Still searching for something to do, he glanced over at Kensuke, then nearly did a double take when he saw that the otaku had his laptop open and was reviewing the extra information on ghosts that Shinji had given them recently.

Toji almost snapped at his friend to close the laptop right away, lest he be caught, but then he stopped himself. Shiro, their fellow student who had the aisle seat, was fast asleep and snoring softly, having somehow conked out almost the instant the plane had taken off.

Even if he hadn't, Toji realized it wouldn't have been that big a deal. Kensuke could just tell anybody who asked about the ghost files that they were part of some obscure RPG or something. Coming from the otaku, nobody would be skeptical of that claim.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked softly.

"Just reviewing this stuff," Kensuke said with a small sigh, and Toji was surprised he seemed so down while studying something he'd been so excited about. "I'm worried, man."

The jock arched an eyebrow. "About what?" he asked, not quite able to believe that the guy who'd cheerfully gone outside during an Angel attack was getting cold feet about fighting ghosts now.

Especially not after the way they had totally proven themselves by defeating a powerful ghost without any help from Shinji whatsoever.

"I'm worried Shinji might not think we're not good enough to be ghost hunters," Kensuke said anxiously.

"What makes you say that?" Toji asked, surprised.

"Well, the way he dumped all this material on us makes me think he feels we're really not up to speed on everything yet," Kensuke explained. "And did you notice how adamant he was that we not go after Spectra without him? I really think he wasn't very impressed with how quickly we took down that one ghost."

"Man, you worry too much. We did a great job there," Toji said dismissively.

"Maybe, but what if I'm right?" Kensuke pressed. "If Shinji decides to cut us out, what do you think your chances of ever even getting a shot at Spectra are?"

Toji couldn't help but scowl at the thought of that ghost. So far as he was concerned, so long as she was free, his sister was in danger of being attacked again. Even if he had felt differently about that, he still wanted to punish Spectra for attempting _one_ attack.

"You're reading too deeply into things," Toji insisted. "Shinji just wants us to be prepared. And he told me that Spectra's really powerful. Since we _are_ still pretty new at this, it makes sense that he doesn't want us facing her alone."

"I don't know," Kensuke said, clearly still worried. "I was thinking that maybe we should try and do something impressive in Okinawa. I mean, there _have_ be ghosts there, don't you think? What with the whole—"

"Dude, no," Toji said flatly, interrupting the otaku.

"Why not?" Kensuke asked, taken aback.

"Because, this is a school trip to Okinawa. I plan to lay on the beach and check out girls in swimsuits," Toji said. "You are _not_ turning this into a ghost hunting expedition. Besides, how would we even catch a ghost if we found one? You couldn't have smuggled the ecto-pistols through airport security, and even you're not crazy enough to try it, anyway."

"Not the pistols, no," Kensuke admitted, "but stuff like the Ikari thermos? That sailed right through."

Toji glared angrily at his friend. "This is a vacation. We are not spending it hunting ghosts," he said flatly. "That is final."

With that, he turned and closed his eyes, deciding to try and follow Shiro's brilliant example of getting some sleep. Yet he couldn't quite shake the sinking feeling that somehow, through some inexplicable means, Kensuke would get his way.

* * *

"Look at it, Bertrand. See that plane right there? That plane holds an entire school year full of happy children. It makes me absolutely _sick_."

"Indeed, Miss Spectra," Bertrand agreed, "it's positively nauseating."

Spectra and her shape shifting minion, who currently looked like a squat English butler, were lurking in the shadow of a highway overpass. They were just able to see the plane pass by in a break in the city skyline.

After staying in hiding for so long, Spectra had mostly healed from the wounds she'd endured in her last battle with the Ikiryo. However, though her powers had been restored, her appearance was still a mess; wide cracks remained in her human facade, allowing the inky blackness of her true form to show through. As Shinji had predicted, she was too vain to go out and be seen in such a state, so it would be some time before she launched a full scale attack on the half-ghost boy. For now, she had resigned herself to waiting and plotting her revenge.

Mostly.

"Do you suppose that the Ikiryo is on that plane?" she asked.

"I have checked, Miss Spectra," Bertrand said. "He is not."

"Bah," Spectra scowled, "He probably decided to stay in case I or another ghost arrives to terrorize Tokyo-3. He is so noble and stupid like that."

Bertrand nodded. "Indeed."

"Still…even if he's not there, I'll bet that obnoxious new friend of his is," Spectra mused, thinking of the protective big brother to the little girl who had so narrowly escaped her. Reaching a snap decision, she added, "Bertrand, be a dear and follow them to Okinawa."

"As you wish, Miss Spectra," he replied. "Do you want to me to…take care of the boy?"

"No," Spectra replied. "At least, not directly. If you appear, he may get word to the Ikiryo before you can finish him off, and we don't want to put the Ikiryo on his guard. Instead, why don't you see what you can…stir up?"

Bertrand smiled wickedly. "Very good, Miss Spectra."

* * *

Not long after Toji had finally managed to drift off to sleep, Shinji Ikari arrived at the front door to Rei Ayanami's apartment, carrying his school bag. He pressed the doorbell (the one in her new place worked), and a few moments later the First Child arrived at the door.

"Hello, Rei," he greeted her with as much cheer as he could muster.

"Ikari," she responded with a small nod, then headed back into the apartment.

This wasn't much of an invitation, but since he'd called ahead and asked to come, he followed her inside.

The apartment was mostly the same as it had been the last time he'd been there, and though he took it as a good sign that Rei wasn't littering her floor with garbage like she had in her old apartment, he was disappointed to see that she still hadn't given the place any personal touches yet.

She _had_ put up the picture he'd given her, but for all he knew, she did it out of a sense of obligation or something.

_Now what's that?_ He wondered, noticing that there _was_ something new in the apartment as he glanced at the coffee table. It looked like a set of watercolor paints, along with several brushes. However, there was no easel or paper anywhere he could see.

Well, it was a start, he guessed.

"Are you all right?" Rei asked, and the Third Child abruptly realized that he'd been surveying the apartment for several long moments now.

"Um, just fine." He answered, embarrassed. "Thanks for agreeing to help me, by the way. I heard that you always have top grades, even though you're not in class half the time because of NERV."

"I have a good memory," Rei replied. "And the Commander occasionally tutors me, when he has time."

Shinji blinked at that, feeling a strange mixture of emotions spike through him. He felt satisfaction in having gotten more than a one word answer out of the First Child; it seemed like a sign that she was coming out her shell, even if it was a very gradual process. There was some surprise, since he had a difficult time imagining his father doing something as…fatherly as tutoring someone.

And much as he hated to admit it, there was also some jealousy there. After all, his father had never offered to tutor _him_ in anything.

With an effort, he pushed all those emotions aside. He _was_ here for a reason, after all.

"So I was hoping you could explain some stuff in physics to me," Shinji said, getting his textbook out and opening it. "I'm having a lot of trouble getting thermal expansion…"

* * *

One day into the school trip to Okinawa, Toji was starting to think that his fears about Kensuke's manic desire for adventure and spectral battles were unfounded. So far, there had been no incidents of any kind.

_Now this is the life,_ he decided, laying back on the beach blanket he had spread out over the sands. _Warm sun, good looking girls all over the place, and not even Kensuke's crazy ass can find anything to worry about._

It wasn't for lack of trying, though, the jock noted, peering at his friend out of the corner of his eye. The otaku had been messing with the specter detector all day without it giving off so much as a blip. Fortunately, nobody was paying him any mind; everyone who saw him seemed to just assume the gadget in his hands was some kind of metal detector or something.

The crazy nerd would waste the entire trip if he didn't give it up soon, but Toji knew how pointless it would be to try and get to him to stop. So rather than waste his own time and energy trying, he directed his gaze toward the blue sea as it sparkled with reflected sunlight, following the path of a tiny, colorful sailboat across the horizon.

Two things abruptly happened at once, shattering the peace of the beautiful day.

First, the specter detector Kensuke was holding started beeping wildly, causing several of the people nearby to think the otaku had just managed to find buried treasure. Then, the sailboat Toji had been watching vanished beneath the waves, as though a giant had reached up from under the water and pulled it down.

"Son of a bitch," he grumbled, almost more exasperated than alarmed as the people around him started to notice the sailboat's sudden disappearance.

"Toji…" Kensuke began.

"I know," the jock growled. "You got your damn ghost hunt for the school trip."

An enormous wave rose up from the formerly placid sea, and panic gripped the beachgoers, who believed that a tsunami rivaling the ones that he swept across the world following Second Impact had come again to Okinawa. Cries of terror rang out as the white, churning water crashed down on them, but their fear was largely overblown. Everyone on the beach received a complete soaking, but the wave was hardly a danger to the island as a whole.

A disgruntled Toji expelled a spout of sea water from his mouth, briefly looking like some ridiculous garden fountain statue. "Can we go home now?" he grumbled to no one in particular. "I'm not having fun anymore."

"I don't think that's an option," Kensuke said quietly. "Look." He pointed with a shaking hand.

A figure stood by the shoreline, and Toji instantly felt certain that it was a ghost. There were no glowing lights or balls of strangely colored fire surrounding the man. He wasn't transparent, and he wasn't shooting green lasers out of his hands. However, there was something so undeniably _otherworldly_ about him that it was impossible to believe, even for a moment, that he might be a normal person.

Of course, the guy was also about seven feet tall, clad in a long white kimono, had shaggy black hair that fell to his back, and there appeared to be fish scales on his neck and hands, so being mistaken as normal was never on the table for him, even if he wasn't broadcasting weird vibes.

"He looks a lot tougher than the last ghost we fought," Toji said softly.

"Yeah," Kensuke agreed.

As they, and most of the people on the beach, watched the strange man in stunned silence, the ghost walked forward, approaching a small boy. The kid had been eating a small cup of frozen red bean paste before the giant wave had washed over the shore, and somehow he had managed to hang onto it.

"Give me your spoon," the ghost said in a low voice, his words coming out with a gurgling sound, as though he was still underwater.

Trembling, the little boy started to hold out the plastic spoon he'd been eating his snack with.

Kensuke started as something clicked in his mind. "Wait! Kid, stop!" he shouted.

But it was too late. The ghost claimed the tiny plastic spoon from the child, and the utensil immediately shifted and changed. In an instant, it was made out of gleaming metal and was big enough to serve as the oar for a rowboat.

The giant ladle really should've looked silly, but somehow it was utterly terrifying.

"Funayurei," Kensuke breathed.

The word sounded vaguely familiar to Toji, and he was pretty sure that was because it was in the material about ghosts Shinji had given them. Of course, he didn't actually remember a thing about it, but the otaku's fearful expression wasn't filling him with good feelings.

With a loud growl, the Funayurei swung his giant ladle around in a wide arc, sending water that hadn't been in it a second ago flying at the velocity of a bullet. The blast of seawater struck the crowd, sending a group of beachgoers flying like toys. Toji and Kensuke could only watch as they eventually returned to earth, flopping down painfully on the sand.

That managed to break everyone's stunned silence. Screams rang through the air, and the once peaceful group of vacationers immediately devolved into absolute chaos as everyone tried to flee from the clearly malicious apparition. The process wasn't made any easier by the Funayurei sending several more violent water blasts into the heart of the fleeing mob.

"So…how much of the ghost fighting arsenal did you actually manage to get through customs?" Toji asked slowly.

"Um, aside from the specter detector…the Ikari thermos and that weird chap stick ecto gun…thing," Kensuke said.

"Fabulous." Toji groaned.

This was going to be a very long trip.

* * *

Meanwhile, many miles away and blissfully unaware of the troubles his new friends were dealing with, Shinji Ikari was having a much more pleasant experience with water.

Sure, the pool at the NERV rec. center couldn't compare to the ocean by Shinjuku-2 or Okinawa, but it was better than nothing. It was also a chance to spend some time with his fellow pilots.

_Or at least, one of them,_ he mused, noting Asuka's conspicuous absence.

He shrugged, deciding it was probably for the best if the redhead decided not to show up. Though far from exciting, spending time with Rei was definitely pleasant. It was peaceful and quiet, and for someone who had recently found himself dealing with _both_ ghosts and the Angels, those weren't things to sneer at. The presence of Asuka might shatter that.

"Well, hello there, you two," a singsong voice called from the entrance to the room.

_Speak of the devil,_ he thought ruefully, pulling himself out of the pool to say hello.

"For a minute there I thought you weren't going to…" he trailed off as he turned and got a good look at her, as well as the red and white bikini she had on.

It was a lot less modest than the white one piece Rei was wearing, and though Shinji might not have liked Asuka's personality much, there were few fourteen-year-old boys who could've honestly said much anything bad about her appearance. Feeling his face heat, he quickly looked away.

As a result, he missed the redness that appeared on Asuka's own face. Of course, even if he had noticed it, he never would've guessed that the redhead was thinking that he was a lot fitter than she would have thought.

The redhead recovered from her immediate reaction first. "Well, since we can't go to Okinawa, I figured I'd just do it here," she proclaimed.

"Do it here?" he echoed dumbly, his current state of mind causing him to give the pronoun all kinds of meanings he knew _couldn't_ be what she'd really meant.

"Scuba diving, of course!" Asuka exclaimed, holding up a small air tank.

Shinji couldn't help but smirk. "You're going to go scuba diving in the pool?" he asked.

"Yeah. You got a problem with that?" Asuka scowled.

"No, no," he assured her, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "If you want to, I won't stop you. It just seems a little a silly to me. I mean, there's actually stuff to see if you go scuba diving by Okinawa. In the pool? Not so much."

"Then what would you suggest I do, Brainiac?" Asuka scowled, putting her hands on her hips.

He shrugged. "Wanna race?" he suggested. "Say, first to the far side of the pool and back?"

Asuka laughed haughtily. "Against you?" she asked. "I'd be done before you were halfway across the pool!"

Shinji scowled but held his temper in check. "Don't be so sure," he said. "Did you forget that I grew up in a coastal town? I swim all the time."

"Fine," the redhead said, releasing a very tolerant sounding sigh, "if you want to embarrass yourself, I suppose that I can't stop you."

"Yeah, yeah," Shinji grumbled, as Asuka took her spot next to him at the edge of the pool. Off to the side, Rei watched them silently, though it was impossible to tell if she was the least bit interested in the race or not.

"On your mark," Asuka began.

"Get set," Shinji added.

"Pilots Soryu, Ikari, and Ayanami, report to the briefing room at once," the base's PA system cracked to life. "Repeat, all Evangelion pilots are ordered to report to the briefing room at once."

Startled at being interrupted just before they were about to plunge into the pool, the two teenagers wobbled as they aborted their dives as the last moment. Asuka was able to regain her balance, but Shinji tumbled gracelessly into the pool.

"Nice belly flop entry there, baka," she smirked as he came back up.

"Ha ha," he grumbled as he pulled himself out of the water for a second time. "I guess the race will have to wait. Let's go."

* * *

Not much later, Shinji, Asuka, and Rei were all looking down at the image of the unborn Angel that was projected upon the floor in one of the operation planning rooms of NERV headquarters.

"Is that an Angel?" Shinji asked.

"Yes," Ritsuko answered. "This is some sort of embryonic form that precedes the adult stage. Commander Ikari has personally ordered an A-17, an offensive assault on this Angel. This operation's objective is to capture this Angel alive and intact."

"And if we fail?" Asuka asked.

"Then you must destroy it," Ritsuko answered simply. "Understood?"

"Roger!" the four pilots chorused.

"The designated pilot for this operation will be—"

"I'll do it," Shinji volunteered before she could even finish.

The whole plan seemed to have "suicide mission" written all over it, but the Third Child thought that his ghostly abilities would give him a better chance of surviving than the two girls. Though there was no way his ice powers could stand up to a sea of molten lava, they might buy him a couple of extra seconds in a pinch.

Asuka, however, clearly wasn't willing to let the mission go.

"The hell you'll do it!" she barked. "This one is all me!" she added, turning to look at Misato as though daring the Ops Director to challenge her.

"Yes, Asuka, you will carry out the mission," Misato said. "Unit Two is most suited for use with the D-type equipment for fighting in such an environment." She added pointedly.

Asuka chose to ignore the implication that she wouldn't be the one doing the mission otherwise, as well as Shinji's quiet sigh. "Perfect! It's gonna be easy!" the Second Child boasted, confident as always.

"And me?" Rei asked.

"The prototype cannot use the special equipment necessary for this mission," said Ritsuko.

"Rei and Unit Zero will remain here on standby," Misato added.

"I see," Rei answered.

"Aw, poor little Rei, she doesn't get to have any fun," Asuka taunted.

"Asuka," Shinji said in warning.

It was impossible to tell in the dim light of the room, but Rei blushed slightly at having her friend come to her defense. Asuka just rolled her eyes.

"Now that an A-17 has been declared, we need to get moving as quickly as possible," Ritsuko Misato. "All of you, move out."

"Roger!"

* * *

Large chunks of Okinawa were in a state of confusion and barely restrained panic following the appearance of the Funayurei. Though Toji and Kensuke had not been the only ones to recognize that the ghost was a supernatural being, many of the people who hadn't been present on the beach when it had appeared had been understandably skeptical about it. As a result, two competing stories had raced across the island, one stating that a ghost had risen from the waves and another claiming that some kind of terrorist had come to the island and attacked beach goers.

However, either way one looked at it, everybody acknowledged that there was someone or something seriously bad on the island.

"So, you seemed to know what that thing was," Toji said.

He and Kensuke had taken advantage of the utter pandemonium that had erupted on the beach to "get separated from" the rest of their class. The two boys had withdrawn to a quiet side street where they felt fairly confident they wouldn't be found by a teacher or other chaperone.

"Yeah," Kensuke said, looking anxious and distracted. "I'm positive that ghost was a Funayurei. I read about them in the material that Shinji gave us just before this trip."

"And?" Toji asked impatiently. "Want to tell me what you learned?"

"Um, well, they're the ghosts of people who died by drowning," Kensuke began. "I guess there would be plenty of people like that from this area."

Toji nodded somberly. He didn't usually learn much from their teacher's endless history lecture, but one little fact that had stuck with him was that less than one percent of the island's population had survived the day of Second Impact.

Now that he thought about it, it seemed pretty wrong that they had built a new resort island on top of what was a watery grave for thousands and thousands of people. It was actually pretty surprising that Okinawa didn't deal with ghostly attacks far more often.

_But of course one had to happen while we were here on vacation,_ he thought.

"Anyway, Funayurei are most well known for attacking sailors," Kensuke continued. "They're supposed to come up to boats and ask the sailors for a spoon or a ladle. Then, if they're given one, they use it to pour water into the boat faster than the sailors can bail it out, causing them to sink."

"Oh great, and that kid gave it a spoon," Toji sighed. "Does that mean it's gonna try to flood the whole damn island?"

"God, I hope not," Kensuke grimaced at the thought. "But I can't say for sure either way. I mean, there wasn't really any info about a Funayurei ever attacking people on land before."

"Wonderful," Toji groaned. "Then I guess we pretty much have to go and stop it."

This wasn't cool or fun, he realized dourly. Though he had never been possessed by the same crazed enthusiasm that had gripped Kensuke, he had thought that the prospect of hunting ghosts sounded exciting. Now he was really starting to understand why Shinji didn't think too much of that part of his life, either.

"Okay, so what's our plan of attack?" he asked.

Kensuke blinked. "Why are you asking me?" he demanded, sounding on the verge of panic.

"Because you're the one who knows about Funayurei!" Toji hissed.

"Well, there _was_ something sailors would do to try and protect themselves from Funayurei, but…"

"But?" Toji prompted him.

"I forgot what that was," Kensuke said in a small voice.

"_What?!_" the jock exclaimed, stunned and more than a little ticked off at his friend for not knowing that one, vital bit of information.

"Hey, I didn't know we'd run into a Funayurei here!" Kensuke said. "Besides, I know more about it than you do!"

Toji had to admit he had a point. "Any chance we can look up the rest of the info?" he asked.

"Doubt it," Kensuke said miserably. "I left it back at the hotel. The class is probably back there by now."

Toji sighed. "Okay, looks like we'll have to wing it, then," he said. "Can we even find the Funayurei again?"

"Yeah, that's the easy part," Kensuke confirmed. "He's showing up loud and clear on the specter detector."

"Least there's that," the jock grunted. "Okay, here's the plan. One of us will use that chap stick ecto gun…thing to try and pin the ghost down, while the other one will catch it with the thermos."

He was still in a state of disbelief that somebody had built an anti-ghost weapon into a tube of chap stick, but there was no denying Shinji had been right about it being a useful concealed weapon.

"All right," Kensuke agreed. "Which job do you want?"

Toji considered. Both jobs were pretty important, and in all honesty, he didn't really trust Kensuke with either one of them. However, he recalled what had happened the last time the otaku had attempted to use the Ikari thermos, back when they'd fought Yoshi 13 and Kitty. That made his mind up immediately.

"I'll try and catch it," he said. "You take the blaster."

"Right," Kensuke agreed, then checked the specter detector. "The ghost should be this way."

Toji allowed his friend to take the lead, silently hoping that they made it through this day alive.

* * *

Generally speaking, Shinji tried his best to never get arrogant and think that he knew better than everyone around him, even when it came to subjects where he could rightly claim expertise. In his experience, if he let himself do that, it almost always came back to bite him in some way or another, even if it ultimately turned out he was right. Karma seemed to have a vested interest in keeping him humble.

In this particular situation, however, he saw no problem with wondering why everyone besides him was being so incredibly _stupid_.

NERV was preparing to send Unit Two plunging into molten magma. That really hadn't sunk in until they had actually arrived at Mount Asuma, and Shinji had found himself seated in Unit One's entry plug, gazing down into the bubbling lava below.

Somehow, everyone but him failed to see that this plan, regardless of the bulky D-type equipment, was a very bad idea.

_People weren't meant to swim in lava, _he thought as he watched NERV prepare for Unit Two's descent. A huge laser mounted on a thick metal frame above the mouth of the volcano was maneuvered over the volcano, blasting a 'tunnel' into the molten rock for the red EVA. It was moved away, and soon Unit Two took its place suspended above the magma.

"Pilot Soryu, are you ready?" he heard Misato ask over the radio. It was weird for her to speak with such a formal tone.

"Ready when you are," Asuka replied.

"Begin lowering Unit Two," Misato ordered.

Shinji watched with trepidation as the other EVA began to descend toward the lava, not really listening to the chatter from the command center that was being transmitted to him. People were simply not meant to go into lava.

"Hey, Shinji!" Asuka called, getting his attention. "Look! Giant stroke entry!"

Unit Two spread its legs, one forwards and one backwards, as it hit the lava, probably the most graceful thing Asuka could make it do while stuck in the bulky exosuit.

Shinji heaved a small sigh, then chuckled despite himself. _She's completely nuts,_ he thought ruefully as he watched Unit Two sink beneath the surface of the lava.

* * *

"All right, I think we're getting close to the ghost," Kensuke said, fiddling with the knobs on the specter detector and staring intently at the screen.

"Really? How did you figure that out?" Toji asked sarcastically.

Frowning, Kensuke looked up from the gadget in his hands, then his eyes widened at what he saw. The street they were approaching had been transformed into a river.

"So, the Funayurei _is_ going to flood Okinawa," the otaku said softly.

"And it won't even be hard," Toji muttered. "The whole island's shaped like one giant bowl. Only the outer circumference is above sea level. They built it that way to save money, but it'll make it a lot easier for the ghost to get everything underwater."

Kensuke gave him a look.

"What?" Toji asked.

"How did you know that?" the bespectacled boy asked.

"There was this pamphlet I read on the plane. I was bored. Now shut up," Toji said curtly. "We have to find this ghost and stop him."

With no ceremony, he waded into the waters of the flooded street, gesturing for Kensuke to follow him. The otaku made a face but complied, being careful to keep the specter detector above the water line. He was pretty sure Shinji had mentioned that most of the ghost equipment could stand up to a little moisture, but there was no reason to take a chance if he didn't have to.

"This way," he said

The two boys plowed forward, the water getting deeper as they went. Pretty soon it was nearly up to their chests, and Toji started to worry that they'd be forced to swim. However, they turned a corner and spotted their quarry.

The Funayurei stood in the water, and though it was difficult to tell because of the kimono, he seemed to only be submerged up to his knees, thanks to his absurd height. An endless stream of water was cascading impossibly from the massive spoon he held.

If he took notice of the two boys approaching him, he gave no sign.

"Remember the plan?" Toji asked.

"Of course," Kensuke replied, sounding insulted.

"Then let's do it," the jock said.

The bespectacled boy nodded, then waded a bit closer to the Funayurei, putting some distance between himself and Toji at the same time. The ghost continued to completely ignore him, focused on flooding the island.

While waiting for the otaku to do his part, Toji tried very hard to keep from thinking about how much bigger and scarier the Funayurei looked than the last ghost they'd fought, and how damned much he wished Shinji was there with them.

_Shouldn't have made that crack about having enough fun for the both of us,_ he thought. _Damn it, karma._

Finally, after what felt like forever, Kensuke reached a position he was apparently happy with. Turning, he looked silently at Toji, who nodded. The smaller boy uncapped the disguised ghost weapon, and Toji fingered the Ikari-thermos, ready to use it the moment he got a chance. With any luck, the whole fight would be over in about two seconds.

Kensuke fired, and a thin stream of green light burst from the disguised weapon, lancing through the air. The otaku's aim proved to be dead-on; he landed a direct hit on the Funayurei.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do anything. The ghost didn't stagger, didn't cry out in pain, and definitely didn't go flying through the air.

_Oh crap,_ Toji thought, it occurring to him only then that an ecto blaster tiny enough to fit inside a tube of chap stick probably wasn't _nearly_ as powerful as the regular ones.

The Funayurei stopped pouring water into the already flooded street and looked up, anger shining in its pale eyes. Both boys immediately blanched.

"Toji!" Kensuke hissed.

The jock aimed the Ikari-thermos at the Funayurei, some distant part of his mind wishing for the ten thousandth time that the thing actually looked like a real weapon rather than something he should be carrying soup in, and pressed the button. The green capture beam shot out, but the ghost dodged, surprisingly nimble for his massive size. Before Toji could fire again, the Funayurei swung its oversized spoon, and a massive wave suddenly formed, rushing toward both of the boys.

Toji and Kensuke screamed. It was about all they could do.

Then the water crashed over them, and Toji's world became a confused jumble of images. He didn't know which way was up, and he collided painfully with the street several times before he regained his bearings. Finally he broke the surface of the dirty water, gasping and sputtering.

"Kensuke? Ken?!" he called frantically, not seeing his friend.

The otaku popped out of the water a second later not three feet from Toji, his glasses badly askew. "Hunting ghosts is not as glorious as I imagined it," he remarked between coughs.

Under other circumstances, the larger boy would've pointed out that probably nothing could be as glorious as it was in Kensuke's overactive imagination. As it was, he just turned to look at the ghost. The Funayurei was approaching them at a slow, deliberate pace.

"Let's get out of here," he said.

"But won't it go back to flooding the island if we leave?" Kensuke protested.

"We'll figure out how to stop it later! This isn't working!" Toji hissed.

Though he obviously wasn't happy about it, the smaller boy nodded. He and Toji started their frantic retreat from the ghost, half wading and half swimming toward safety.

The Funayurei, however, was not having it. The specter pointed its massive ladle skywards, then started to spin it around. The water surrounding Toji and Kensuke started to swirl in harmony with it, and within seconds the two would-be ghost hunters were caught in a powerful whirlpool, totally unable to break free.

"I just want you to know…I blame you for this!" Toji yelled as the Funayurei approached them.

"Shut up, I'm trying to aim!" Kensuke retorted, and the jock realized to his amazement that the other boy had somehow managed to hang onto the disguised ecto gun.

The Funayurei drew to within striking distance of them, then raised its club-like spoon high. Toji had no doubt that one good hit from the thing could easily shatter bones.

Kensuke fired, and despite the speed at which they were spinning, the shot didn't go completely wild.

Unfortunately, Toji saw it wasn't quite on target, either. The pencil thin beam of green energy missed the ghost entirely, instead striking the ladle, leaving just a tiny hole in the bowl of the oversized utensil.

The jock was just about to say his goodbyes when the water around them stopped churning, finally allowing himself and Kensuke to come to a halt. The Funayurei gave his spoon a shocked look.

"Dude!" Kensuke hissed, jolting Toji into action.

"Uh, right!" the larger boy said, pointing the mouth of the Ikari-thermos at the ghost and mashing down the button. The Funayurei was at point blank range, so it was completely impossible to miss.

The ghost let out a loud howl of rage as it struggled mightily against the capture beam, and Toji had to hold onto the thermos with both hands as tried to buck out of his grip.

Finally, the Funayurei was pulled inside, and Toji slapped the lid onto the thermos, sighing as he sagged with relief.

"Looks like we did it," he said.

"Yeah," Kensuke said. "Lucky thing I remembered what sailors used to do to protect themselves from Funayurei."

"Eh?"

"They'd keep spoons with holes drilled into them on the ships, so if they gave them those, the ghosts wouldn't be able to use it to flood the boat," Kensuke explained. "Hell of a shot there, don't you think?"

"Yeah, hell of a shot," Toji agreed, as they started to trudge back toward dry land.

They waded through the water in silence for a few minutes, both of them exhausted from their ordeal. Then something occurred to the jock.

"Say, Ken," he began slowly, his eyes narrowing. "You _did_ only remember how to stop a Funayurei at the end there, right? You didn't, I dunno, act like you forgot until the last second to make the fight more dramatic, did you?"

It was a pretty big accusation, and with anybody else, Toji wouldn't have even suggested it. However, he'd known Kensuke for a while, and he was well aware of how twisted the crazy nerd's mind could be sometimes.

"Of course not," Kensuke scoffed. "That's ridiculous!"

The smirk that crept onto his face put the lie to his words, though.

Toji felt new energy rushing into him. "Kensuke," he growled. "I swear, I'm gonna kill you!" he yelled.

He took off after the smaller boy, who instantly broke into a run as he fled from his larger pursuer.

* * *

It had been a very long day, Shinji decided as he walked into the onsen. Asuka had nearly died when the Angel she'd been trying to capture had started to "hatch" in the middle of the operation, and he had had to send Unit One diving into the lava to save her.

Of course, after getting the wonderful sensation of a magma bath, Shinji couldn't help but find the idea of going to the local hot springs resort a little perverse.

However, there was no denying that Unit One's little trip into Mount Asuma had left him pretty sweaty, so a bath really was in order. So, after opening the box Kaji had shipped them and releasing Pen-Pen (Shinji still suspected that there might be something supernatural about the water fowl), he gathered up his things and headed for the entrance to the men's side of the hot springs.

Before he got there, though, he was intercepted by Asuka. He frowned slightly, wondering why she wasn't already in the hot springs.

"Hi, Asuka," he greeted her tentatively, not quite sure yet how she was taking needing to be saved by him, of all people.

She didn't respond, at least not with words. Instead, she reached out, grabbed hold of his collar with both hands, and then pulled him toward her. The next thing he knew, she had pressed her lips to his.

His whole body tensed, and his eyes widened with surprise. As the seconds dragged on, though, his surprise gradually drained away. He relaxed, and his eyes slowly slid shut.

He was just starting to toy with the idea of putting his arms around her when Asuka pulled back, grinning cheekily.

Shinji tried to ask her what that was all about, but all that came out was a single, vague syllable.

"Wha…?"

The redhead's grin widened. "That was for saving my life," she said softly, reaching out to cup his cheek. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you in the past. From now on, Shinji, things are going to be different between us. _Very_ different." She added, winking at him.

He nodded. It was all he could with his mind still reeling from what had just happened.

"You should probably head into the baths now," Asuka said. "Misato will think we're up to something if we don't get in there soon. I'll see you later, though."

"R-Right," Shinji managed to stammer out one word.

Walking past her, he continued toward his destination. His first few steps were a little shaky, she noted, but by the time he turned a corner and disappeared from her view, there was a definite hint of swagger in his stride.

As she stared down the hallway after him, the Second Child's smile turned malicious, and her sky blue eyes shifted to a deep crimson color.

"Asuka!" Misato called from inside the baths a second later. "Are you coming in or not?"

The redhead's eyes instantly reverted to normal. "Yes, I'm coming, Misato," she called back.

The wicked grin didn't leave her face until she entered the women's side of the hot spring.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Uh-oh, what's up with Asuka? Fans of Danny Phantom will have a few guesses, I'm sure. Others will just have to wait until the next chapter.

The Funayurei is not a ghost from the Danny Phantom show, or even based on one, but it is a real type of ghost in Japanese mythology. I did do a bit of tweaking, though.

Anyway, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers. And thanks to my beta reader as well.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Love Struck**

The night after the battle in Mount Asuma, the small resort where the Evangelion pilots and their guardian were staying was quiet. Though the evacuation orders had been lifted, most people wouldn't return until the next day, so the only ones occupying the hot springs resort were the NERV party and the elderly couple that owned the place.

Yet in the middle of the calm darkness, there was movement. The door to the small but comfortable room where Shinji was sleeping slid open, and a certain redhead strode into the room, not making a sound.

She gazed down at Shinji Ikari's sleeping form, illuminated by the pale, silvery moonlight streaming in through the open window, and a small smirk slowly spread onto her face. He looked so peaceful and so, so very vulnerable as he slept.

Then, she made her move.

Asuka lifted up the blankets and climbed into bed next to him.

The shifting of the bed as the redhead's weight settled on the mattress immediately woke the sleeping boy, whose eyes quickly popped open.

"A-Asuka? Are…are you sleep walking again?" he asked stupidly, not quite awake himself.

"No," she replied with a smile. "I just…well, I know we only had our first kiss a few hours ago, but I wanted to see what it was like."

"It?" he repeated, his heart suddenly hammering in his chest.

She smirked mischievously at him. "I want to know what it'll be like to wake up next to you," she explained.

"Oh," he said, feeling both relieved and disappointed at once. "Oh, okay then."

Not exactly suave, but Asuka didn't appear to mind. The redhead curled up against him and lay her head on his chest. Releasing a contented sigh as Shinji hesitantly put an arm around her, the redhead soon fell asleep.

It took the Third Child a good bit longer to find slumber again, but he didn't mind.

* * *

"Okay, guys, we're ready to leave!" Misato called into the still mostly empty onsen the next morning.

"Thanks again for letting me tag along with you as head back to Tokyo-3," Ritsuko said, leaning her hip against the car.

"Oh, no problem," the Ops Director said magnanimously, then she smirked. "After all, if I'd made you take one of the transports back home, I'd be stuck behind the wheel for the whole trip!"

Misato normally liked to drive, but in the rush to get to the volcano as quickly as possible, she and the pilots had had to take a chopper, which meant she'd been forced to leave her beloved Renault behind. Now that there was no need to hurry, they would be driving back, and the car NERV had provided for them was the saddest little vehicle she had ever seen. It definitely didn't look like it would be fun to drive.

"I'm touched by your generosity," the bottle blonde said dryly as Shinji and Asuka emerged from the onsen.

"Sorry it took us so long," Shinji said as he and the Second Child tossed their duffel bags into the trunk.

"No problem," Misato said. "Get in, guys."

The Evangelion pilots obligingly climbed into the back, and they were soon off, Misato and Ritsuko exchanging small talk in the front of the car.

They weren't on the road for two minutes before Shinji felt Asuka's hand on his. He turned to her as she twined her fingers with his, and she smiled warmly at him.

He smiled back, aware that he probably looked dumb and love struck but not quite finding it within himself to care. Asuka, who he felt quite safe thinking of as his new girlfriend after last night, didn't seem to mind.

His girlfriend. There was something very strange and wonderful about that idea. Getting a girlfriend seemed like the kind of thing that happened to other guys, not to him. Not that he was complaining.

_God, I'm gonna have a lot of explaining to do when the rest of the class gets back from Okinawa,_ he mused, already imagining Toji and Kensuke's reaction to the news.

Well, they'd get over it eventually. He couldn't imagine Kensuke scorning a half-ghost Evangelion pilot just because he didn't approve of his taste in women. Toji would probably be a bit more put out about it, but he thought the jock would understand eventually.

The twins, on the other hand, might be a different story. He knew they wouldn't abandon him or anything, of course, but telling them about it would be especially…interesting. After all, the only things they knew about Asuka were the things he'd told them, and he'd mostly complained about the redhead to them. Explaining the abrupt shift in attitudes would be difficult.

Hell, it even seemed a little impossible to him, when he stopped to think about it. It was especially odd how Asuka had become so touchy-feely after being so stand-offish before.

His train of thought was interrupted as Asuka let go of his hand so she could snuggle closer to him and lay her head on his shoulder. Smiling, he wrapped an arm around her slender waist, and she released a nearly inaudible sigh of contentment.

_They'll get over it,_ he decided.

* * *

"So, the Ikiryo's new sidekicks managed to fend off the Funayurei you disturbed at Okinawa," Spectra said.

"That's correct, Miss Spectra," Bertrand answered. "I believe I could have finished them off myself after they dispatched him, but I knew you didn't want to do anything to put the Ikiryo on guard. I hope I didn't err."

"No, Bertrand, you did exactly as you should have," Spectra reassured him.

The two ghosts were in their temporary hideout beneath on overpass in Tokyo-3. Spectra was growing quite tired of the dirty, smelly place, but she knew it wouldn't be long before she could leave it behind her forever. The damage to her powers was completely healed by this point, and the damage to her appearance wasn't far behind.

"It looks like I can't completely write off the Ikiryo's two new friends," Spectra mused aloud. "I'll have to be extra nasty when I finally launch my next attack."

Bertrand smiled. It wasn't a pleasant expression on him, somehow twisted his distinguished face into a very malevolent cast. "I look forward to it, Miss Spectra."

* * *

Walking home from the supermarket with a bag of groceries in his arms a couple of days after returning from Okinawa, Shinji knew he was presenting a disgustingly happy appearance to the world at large, but he really didn't care. He also couldn't bring himself to care that he'd soon have to tell Toji and Kensuke about the change in relationship with Asuka, seeing as how they'd be coming back from the school trip that day. They were probably already back in Tokyo-3, in fact.

Of course, once school started up again, he wouldn't be able to spend quite as much time alone with Asuka as he had recently.

_Better make sure we make out as much as possible while we still can,_ he thought with a grin as he entered the apartment building he currently called home.

Forgoing the elevator, he bound up the stairs, quickly arriving at his destination. "I'm home!" he called as he walked inside, slipping off his shoes.

"Welcome home, Shinji!" he heard Asuka call from within the apartment.

Setting down his bag on the table, the Third Child walked into the kitchen…then stopped short at what he saw.

Asuka was standing in front of the stove, working on dinner. She was wearing the green apron he often donned when working in the kitchen.

Just like that, the vague feeling of unease that had been present beneath his almost delirious happiness almost since Asuka had first kissed him crystallized into the certainty that something was wrong.

The abrupt turnaround in Asuka's attitude toward him he could accept—he _had_ saved her life, after all—but the Second Child acting all domestic all of a sudden? That was just too much.

"You like stir fry, don't you?" the redhead asked, absently, turning back to the stove.

Shinji didn't answer. He slowly walked over to her and touched her shoulder, causing her to turn around. She immediately grew concerned as she saw the look on his face.

"Is something wrong?" she asked demurely. Too demurely.

He ignored her, reaching down and gently taking hold of the necklace she wore around her neck. She had bought it very shortly after the battle against the last Angel. It was a small plastic figure of a popular cartoon cat on a piece of pink string. It completely clashed with the air of adulthood and maturity Asuka had worked to surround herself with ever since Shinji had known her.

It was also a dead giveaway as to who he was really dealing with, he realized, trying his best to ignore how cold and sick he was feeling as it all started to sink in.

"Hello, Kitty," he said.

The Second Child's eyes widened, then went from pale blue to bright crimson as her surprised expression was slowly replaced by a smirk.

"So, you figured it out, huh?" she asked, and it was now the voice of the biker girl coming from Asuka's mouth, rather than the redhead's own. "I'm surprised you realized so quickly. My performance was flawless."

It really hadn't been, at all, but Shinji didn't think it would be a very good idea to point that out. "How long have you been overshadowing Asuka?" he demanded. "In fact, _how_ are you overshadowing Asuka at all? She's very…resistant to overshadowing." He added, recalling how he'd only managed to maintain control of the redhead for a couple of minutes before she'd ousted him.

She tittered. "What, you tried it once and got kicked out? Oh, Ikiryo, you're just not very good at overshadowing people," Kitty said, once again sounding just like the Second Child. "You simply don't have enough venom in your soul for it."

"Stop sounding like her," he snapped.

She ignored him. "As for how long I've been in here, hmm, about since right after they pulled her robot out of the lava."

So it had all been a lie, every bit of it. Shinji didn't know whether to be enraged or stricken, but he did know that the ache in his chest was rapidly developing into a physical pain.

"You…_why_ did you do this?" he sputtered.

"After Yoshi ditched me last time, I decided that I'd had just about enough of _that_ loser," Kitty declared. "I knew I needed to find a new boyfriend, someone who wouldn't just abandon his friends, let alone his girlfriend, over a stupid motorcycle."

"So you picked me?" Shinji asked, amazed.

"Yes, you," Kitty nodded, reaching out to gently stroke his upper arm. "I was originally going to overshadow that little blue haired girl, since you seem a lot more chummy with her…"

Shinji made a face at the idea, imagining his half sister aggressively coming on to him.

"…but when you saved this girl from the volcano, it seemed like the perfect opportunity, so I made my move," Kitty finished, clearly pleased with her own brilliance.

Shinji was less impressed. "Uh-huh," he said. "Okay, you had your fun, and I'm sure Yoshi will be really jealous. Now leave Asuka alone."

"Are you kidding?" Kitty laughed. "I've been having a great time! It's so nice to not have to compete with a damn machine for my boyfriend's attention!"

Shinji massaged his temples. He could feel a headache coming on. "You don't really think that we're gonna just keep going on like we have been, do you?" he asked. "I'm not just going to go along with this."

"Why not?" Kitty challenged, putting her fists on her hips. "You don't _really_ want the little snot back, do you? Admit it, you've really enjoyed the last couple of days."

There was no denying that much, at least. Shinji _had_ enjoyed the last few days, probably too much. The clues that something was off were obvious in retrospect, he thought guiltily, but he had brushed aside his misgivings because he'd been quite happy with the new status quo.

"No," he said. "It would be wrong. Really, _really_ wrong."

Kitty laughed. "Oh, Ikiryo, always the good little boy," she smirked. "People who are so intent on doing good all the time always end up miserable in the end, you know. It's because they never focus on their own happiness, not even once." She paused, then seeing that he obviously remained unconvinced, added, "Look, if it'll make you feel better, I promise I'll let her go…eventually. I'd pretty much have to release her at some point, anyway, since I have no idea how to work that giant robot thing. In the meantime, you're dating the most popular girl in school, and I get an attentive boyfriend. What's the harm in enjoying ourselves?"

"You're treating a human being like she's a toy!" Shinji exclaimed, unable to believe that he even had to explain it. "That's where the harm is!"

"Oh, you're only so worked up because you have feelings for the little brat," Kitty said dismissively. "But don't you get it? You only feel those things for her because of _me_."

The half-ghost boy ran a hand over his face. "Stop overshadowing Asuka," he growled, "or I'll _make_ you stop."

Kitty's eyes narrowed. "Just try it."

Twin rings of white energy formed around Shinji's waist, sweeping across his body and transforming him into the Ikiryo. The half ghost quickly went intangible, then surged forward before Kitty could even attempt to dodge, determined to wrest away control of Asuka from her.

It didn't go quite as he'd planned. Kitty was _powerful_, at least as far as overshadowing went, making Shinji think she might've been onto something with all that talk about needing venom in your soul to be good at it, because the biker girl ghost definitely had plenty to spare. Still, he might've been able to force her out of the redhead's body if Asuka had fought with him. Unfortunately, though Asuka _was_ struggling ferociously, she was in a panic, lashing out at him and Kitty equally. Shinji had absolutely no way to communicate with her and let her know that he was on her side.

_"Gah!"_ the Ikiryo cried as Kitty finally won their battle of wills and he was forcibly ejected from Asuka's physical vessel and tossed halfway across the room.

"You lose, Ikiryo," Kitty said smugly, putting a hand on her hip as she walked over to him.

"Yeah," he conceded, picking himself up, "but you don't _win_. I'm not gonna play the part of your boyfriend."

"Oh, yes, you will," Kitty hissed, even as she traced circles on his chest with a fingertip in a seemingly loving gesture. "Otherwise, 'Asuka' will tell everyone who will listen about how she saw Shinji transform into the Ikiryo."

Shinji's jaw clenched.

Kitty grinned at him. "Now, why don't _you_ cook dinner, sweetie?" she asked him. "You're just so much better in the kitchen than I am!"

The half-ghost boy forced a smile that he knew probably looked more like a grimace. "All right, dear, if you insist," he said.

He changed back to his human form, and Kitty happily relinquished the green apron, even helping him put it on. Then she went into the living room and sat down on the couch to watch TV.

Scowling, Shinji started to chop vegetables with more force than was really necessary, casting glances at Kitty every few seconds. She seemed quite absorbed in whatever program she was watching, obviously feeling confident that she'd completely boxed him into a corner.

Perfect.

Taking a pen and small pad that he used to write up shopping lists, Shinji flipped to a blank page and quickly started to draw several large symbols on it.

_Please, let me be doing this right,_ he prayed to any deity that might be listening. He had learned quite a bit about ofunda since he'd first become the Ikiryo, but they were Fumio's specialty, not his.

Licking the top of the paper (and saying a silent apology to Asuka as he did), he quietly walked over toward Kitty, whose back was to him.

"Need something?" she asked as he approached, not bothering to turn around.

Shinji struck, slapping his hastily made ofunda onto Kitty's forehead before she could react. The possessed girl let out a cry of surprise and outrage, attempting to lash out at him and pull the piece of paper off her head at the same time.

The only problem was that she couldn't do either. In fact, she couldn't move at all.

"Did you really think I'd just let this go on?" Shinji asked her. "Asuka obviously _hates_ being controlled, and I think she's been through enough already."

"And how does this help you?" Kitty demanded. "You still can't free her!"

"Not yet, but it keeps you from getting into trouble while I work on it," Shinji retorted.

"This isn't going to work!" Kitty shouted. "Your guardian's gonna come home and demand to know why Asuka's got a Post-It stuck to her forehead! Take this thing off me now, and I won't tell everybody your secret! Or I'll scream my head off until somebody calls the police."

Taking a pen, Shinji gingerly corrected one of characters written on the ofunda, careful not to hurt Asuka. "No you won't," he said simply.

Kitty tried to make some retort, only to find that she could no longer speak.

With that taken care of, the Third Child went over to the phone and dialed Toji's number. "Please be there, please be there," he chanted softly as it rang.

"Hello, Suzuhara residence." The familiar voice of the jock answered, much to Shinji's relief.

"Toji, it's me."

"Hey, Shinji. I'm glad you called, man. I've been wanting to talking to you," Toji said cheerfully. "You'll never guess what happened on Okinawa."

"That's gonna have to wait. Sorry, but I need your help," Shinji said. "Asuka's possessed."

He regretted the words as soon as he spoke them; knowing Toji's opinion of Asuka, he could practically _hear_ the wheels in the other boy's head turning as he tried to come up with an appropriately witty quip.

"Please, don't," Shinji said quickly, not wanting to hear it. "I'm being serious here. Asuka's been overshadowed by Kitty, and I can't make Kitty let go."

"Oh, that's…bad," Toji said. "What do you need me to do?"

"I've kind of got Kitty restrained, but I want somebody to keep an eye on her while I figure out how to force her to stop overshadowing Asuka," Shinji said.

"I'll be right over," he said.

"Bring Kensuke, too, if you can," Shinji added.

"Will do," Toji replied.

They hung up, and Shinji turned back to the still paralyzed Kitty, sighing. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to just let Asuka go now and spare us all this trouble?" he asked. She didn't reply, of course, but he could see the rage clearly shining in her eyes. She was going to be as obstinate and as spiteful about this as possible.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

A quick call to Fumio confirmed what Shinji already knew, namely that if there was any mystical method to force Kitty out, then his friend wasn't aware of it.

Which left him with nothing to do but wait until Toji and Kensuke arrived. He plopped down on the couch, occasionally glancing at the possessed redhead and feeling more and more depressed as it really sank in that the last few days had just been one massive lie.

_I should've known, _he thought. _I could've figured it out sooner, but I didn't want to see the signs._

He hoped that Asuka didn't hate him for taking so long to get her free of Kitty, assuming that the redhead remembered any of this. Knowing that his feelings for Asuka were built upon a massive lie didn't make those feelings go away, after all.

With a sigh, he gazed at the possessed and paralyzed redhead, knowing all too well that once he'd managed to oust Kitty, things would most likely go back to some version of normal. The old normal.

The doorbell rang, then, interrupting his dour thoughts. Shinji quickly got up and opened the door.

"Hey, guys, thanks for coming on such short notice." He said.

"Hey, no problem, man," Toji said. "What are friends for?"

"Remind us to tell you about what we did on the school trip after we get this situation handled," Kensuke added. "Speaking of which, were is our overshadowed demon?"

Shinji grimaced. "She's over here," he said, gesturing toward where Asuka sat on the couch. "And knock it off with the 'demon' stuff, okay?"

"Whoa," Toji said as he saw the frozen redhead.

"Freaky," Kensuke said, waving a hand in front of her face. Her eyes tracked him, but otherwise she didn't move. "Sort of cool, though."

"It's the ofunda doing that to her, in case you didn't guess," Shinji said. "Obviously, she doesn't need a whole lot of attention, but just leaving her alone seems like a bad idea. So I was hoping you could stay here while I figure out how to force Kitty to leave."

"Sure, no problem," Kensuke said.

"Piece of cake," Toji agreed.

"Thanks a lot," Shinji said, then hesitated for a moment before adding, "Also…I know that neither of you likes Asuka, but don't mess with her while she's like this, okay? It's been a rough couple of days for her. Kitty made her do a lot of things that I'm sure she'd never do if she was in control of herself."

"Okay," Toji said.

"I'm serious," Shinji said. "She's been through enough."

"All right, all right, I promise that all we'll do is make sure she doesn't lose the tag," he said, gesturing toward the ofunda stuck to her forehead.

The half-ghost turned to Kensuke.

"On my honor as a proud member of the Ikiryo-gumi, I will not take advantage of this situation in any way," the otaku said formally, though he looked just a tad disappointed.

"Thanks, guys," Shinji said, then transformed into his ghost form. "Now, I gotta fly."

Becoming invisible and intangible, he flew straight through the wall of the apartment, into the open sky. He ascended further, raising a hand to shield his eyes…which didn't help at all since his hand was as transparent as the rest of him. Feeling foolish, he contented himself with squinting as he peered down at the ground.

"Bingo," he said as he finally spotted what he was seeking.

Railroad tracks. The tracks from the very same train line he'd ridden on to get to Tokyo-3, in fact. Streaking down toward them, Shinji began to follow them back in the direction he'd come from. It felt like so long ago now.

He wasn't used to making long distance flights, and Shinji found himself tiring at what he estimated to be the halfway point. Still, he pressed on, refusing to take a break. Asuka didn't deserve to remain overshadowed for a minute longer than necessary, especially after what she'd already been through.

_Besides, things'll get…messy if Misato comes home and finds Asuka paralyzed on the couch with a piece of paper stuck to her forehead,_ he thought. Their guardian wasn't due back for hours, but he had no desire to press his luck.

Yet it was still a long flight, and his mind inevitably started to wander as he flew, yet never straying very far from what had happened and how miserable he felt.

He wondered how much neglect and general ill treatment it took before a reasonable person would view the kind of things Kitty had done as a good idea. After all, the two ghosts were stuck at their current age; even though they appeared to be teenagers, Yoshi and Kitty could very well have been in their dysfunctional relationship for decades. They had certainly been an item ever since Shinji had first encountered them, and in all that time, Yoshi had always shown quite clearly that he cared more about his precious motorcycle than his girlfriend.

Shinji had never given much thought to that before. They were his enemies; their messed up relationship was hardly his problem. Now, though, he found himself wondering what it was like for her, to constantly be seeing that the person she cared for didn't really care about her all that much.

_Probably it feels a lot like this,_ he thought, and despite himself he could feel his white hot fury at Kitty cooling somewhat.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached Shinjuku-2, and was struck by a pang of homesickness he felt upon seeing it. While there was a great deal about the place that he would never miss, he had had a lot of good times there, too. He desperately wished that he could've stopped to visit the twins, but there wasn't a moment to lose.

Heading to his Uncle's home, Shinji flew straight through the walls of the perpetually dilapidated building, ignoring the ghost alarms that started wailing the second he made his entrance. Even over all the nose, he could hear Ichigo Ikari blundering about the second floor of the house, and he knew it would take the man several minutes to activate any of the anti-ghosts defenses that really _should_ have been set up to go off the moment the alarm did. He had plenty of time to do what he needed to do.

Making his way down into the basement, Shinji quickly found the familiar ghost portal, the product of one crazed man's ambitions. The ghost boy's half formed fears that Ichigo would've managed to break the thing while he'd been away proved unfounded, and he quickly hit the button to move aside the protective barrier covering the entrance, revealing the swirling green vortex within.

Taking a deep breath, Shinji plunged inside.

* * *

The Ghost Zone was a freaky place. There was simply no avoiding that, no getting around it.

Most of it was just a mass of nothingness, with swirling green ectoplasmic gases keeping the bulk of it from being a completely featureless void like a starless night sky. Glowing violet doors hung in the emptiness, presumably portals to other areas of the Zone. Shinji had never much felt urge to experiment on the few occasions he'd visited the place; it was extremely easy to get lost there, especially since up and down had a bad tendency to switch at inopportune moments.

In any case, Shinji wasn't interested in the doors. Enormous chunks of rock floated through the Ghost Zone, islands in the sea of nothingness. Many of them were empty, but others were the homes or hangouts of the ghosts, when they chose to content themselves with staying in the Zone, rather than finding a way to the world of the living so they could raise hell.

"Now to see if I can find Yoshi…" he muttered to himself.

This, he knew, was by far the part of his plan that was most likely to hit a snag. Finding Yoshi 13 in the Ghost Zone could easily take a _long_ time.

He was more than relieved when only a few minutes of searching caused him to cross paths with a Slimer—Fumio's term for a ghost that was little more than a wad of green ectoplasm—that happened to be passing by.

"Hey, buddy!" Shinji called, flying after it.

The Slimer responded by releasing a loud scream. "Please, don't hurt me!"

"Hey, relax!" Shinji said, not giving up pursuit. "Attacking you is the last thing I wanna do!"

"Liar! You jumped me and put me into a can once!" the Slimer snapped at him.

Shinji winced, deciding that this _definitely_ wasn't his day. Ghosts like this were extremely common, yet he had had the bad luck of running into one he'd encountered back in Shinjuku-2.

"That was only because you were in the human world, scaring people and stuff," he said. "I don't have a problem with ghosts in the Ghost Zone, promise."

"Really?" the Slimer asked, still dubious but not quite willing to scoff at him quite yet.

"Really," Shinji said, trying to sound as gentle as possible. "In fact, I sort of need your help. Have you seen Yoshi 13 around here lately?"

"Oh, yeah," it said at once, apparently deciding that it was more than willing to help the Ikiryo, if it meant getting rid of him. "He's over that way," a blob of ectoplasm pulled off from the Slimer's main body, forming a primitive appendage for it to point with. "All you have to do is follow the sound of the engine."

"Thanks, buddy," Shinji said.

"Yeah, just don't put me in a can again and we'll call it even," the Slimer grumbled as it and Shinji took off in their separate directions.

A few minutes worth of flying brought one of the Ghost Zone's many islands into view. Unlike the ones that hosted the homes of some of the more powerful ghosts, this one was covered in bizarre rock formations that would've been completely unnatural in the real world. In the Ghost Zone, however, they fit right in.

The sounds of a motorcycle engine could easily be heard almost as soon as Shinji got within sight of the place. Drawing nearer, he soon spotted Yoshi, who was using the ramps and loops that the area provided him to do a number of tricks on his beloved motorcycle. Shinji's stomach lurched just from watching a few of them. Even someone who was already dead shouldn't be doing something so death defying.

Waiting until the bad luck biker had paused for a moment, the Ikiryo put two fingers in his mouth and let out a loud, sharp whistle.

"Hey, Yoshi!"

The biker turned to look at him. He appeared to be surprised to see Shinji at first, but then his expression quickly shifted to one of pure rage.

"You," he hissed.

Shinji cursed, realizing that he probably should've given this a little more thought. "Um, look, Yoshi, whatever you may—"

He didn't get any further before Yoshi wheeled his bike around and fired a blast of green energy out of the headlight at him. Shinji let out a small squeak of fright and surprise, barely managing to dodge the attack.

"Ikiryo!" Yoshi shouted, as he and his bike took off into the air. "How dare you show your face here!"

"So you heard about the whole situation with Kitty, then?" Shinji asked, feeling extremely awkward.

"Of course!" Yoshi barked. "And now I bet you're here to brag about stealing my girl!"

"Stealing your girl?" Shinji echoed dumbly, even as he was forced to dodge more attacks. "Yoshi, I don't even _want_ your girl!"

He felt like kicking himself as soon as the words passed from his mouth. He was really batting a thousand today.

"You…you…!" Yoshi sputtered, so furious he could barely speak. "How _dare_ you talk about her like that! Kitty's an angel! A perfect angel that you don't deserve!" He snarled.

Even though Shinji felt some reluctant sympathy for Kitty, his first thought was that she was a lot more like the Angels that were regularly attacking Tokyo-3 than the kind the biker was probably talking about. However, he finally figured out how to keep his mouth shut and didn't relay that bit of insight to Yoshi.

It probably wouldn't have mattered if he had, though, since the biker was already well past his boiling point.

"Shadow! Get him!" Yoshi screamed.

A vaguely human-shaped blob of inky darkness pulled away from Yoshi and went rushing toward Shinji. The Ikiryo retaliated with a glowing green ghost ray, which hit the shadow dead on and sent it reeling. However, that moment of distraction cost him, as one of Yoshi's attacks managed to clip his side. Shinji let out a grunt of pain as he went spiraling through the air, heading for the rocky island below him.

He probably could've pulled out of the spin, given a couple of seconds, but Yoshi's shadow recovered and came at him, wrapping its ebony arms around him and flying toward the ground, accelerating his descent.

Then there was pain, and Shinji found himself staring at the emptiness and swirling green mist of the Ghost Zone as he lay on the rocky ground. A moment later, Yoshi 13 was looming over him.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just waste you right now?" he growled.

For perhaps the first time that day, Shinji knew exactly what to say to get the response he wanted. "I want to help you get Kitty back."

Yoshi's eyes widened, then narrowed with obvious distrust. "Why would you want to help me?"

"Because, Kitty's been hanging around me lately, but I'm pretty sure she's just trying to make _you_ jealous," Shinji answered.

"Really?" Yoshi asked, briefly looking delighted before he managed to school his features. "I mean, what makes you think that?"

He was leery, but he very much wanted to believe.

"Oh, it's become pretty obvious," Shinji said, trying to sound casual and fact-of-fact at once. "I mean, she _says_ she's done with you, but she keeps talking about you."

Not…exactly true, but Shinji was afraid Yoshi wouldn't find his actual reasons good enough. Besides, she _had_ mentioned Yoshi, after he'd realized that she was overshadowing Asuka. That had to count for something, he supposed.

"Really?" Yoshi drawled, a triumphant grin forming on his face. "In that case, I guess I better head back to the human world and get my girl back!"

"Wait a second!" Shinji said.

Yoshi gave him an annoyed look. "What is it?"

"She misses you, but she's also still mad about the way you just bailed on her the last time we fought," Shinji said. "If you want her back without a lot of, you know, yelling and stuff, you're gonna have to do something to show how much you care about her."

Yoshi's eyes narrowed. "Like what?"

Shinji quickly explained his plan, and the biker grinned. "All right, I can do that."

"Good," the half-ghost said. "Now, we have to get back to Tokyo-3 as soon as possible. Uh, would it be possible for me to hitch a ride?"

He was already tired from flying all the way from Tokyo-3 to Shinjuku-2. He didn't need to fly all the way _back_ there, too.

Yoshi smirked. "Sure, you can ride bitch."

Rolling his eyes, Shinji climbed onto the motorcycle behind the bad luck biker, and they were off.

* * *

"God this is boring," Kensuke complained, pacing around the apartment's small living room.

"Dude, quit complaining," Toji replied, not looking away from the baseball game playing out on the TV. "You were the one who was so crazy insistent about joining the team and helping out the half-ghost."

"Yeah, but I thought there was gonna be more action involved," Kensuke grumbled.

Toji took his eyes away from the game long enough to frown at the otaku. "But you suck at the action part," he said bluntly.

"I do not!" the bespectacled boy snapped.

"Uh-huh," Toji replied, turning back to the TV. "Look, Shinji needs us to do this, so we're doing it, 'cause we're members of the Ikiryo-gumi. End of story."

"Come on," Kensuke said, leaning over the side of the couch and speaking softly, so Asuka wouldn't be able to hear him. "You can't tell me you don't wish we could take advantage of this situation. We're here in _Misato's_ apartment. And we have the Red Demon right there, totally defenseless."

"Yes, it's tempting," Toji said, looking increasingly annoyed, "but our best friend would be furious at us if we took advantage of the situation, especially since we promised not to. So just quit whining about it. Or leave. I can stand guard over the frozen girl by myself if you're really that bored."

"Nah, I'll stay," Kensuke said, wandering over to Asuka. "Hmph, not so high and mighty now, are you, Red?"

"Man, what did Shinji say?" Toji asked.

"I'm not gonna hurt her or anything!" Kensuke exclaimed, sounding exasperated. "I just want to say a few things while she's my captive audience."

Toji shook his head. "Just don't cross the line, man."

"Yeah, yeah," Kensuke grumbled before turning back to Asuka. "You're always talking about how we're such dumb Neanderthals. Well, guess what?" He made a wide, sweeping gesture with his arm as he posed the question, and his hand just happened to brush the piece of paper stuck to her forehead.

The freckled boy quickly pulled his hand back, but it was too late. The ofunda came off, fluttering down into Asuka's lap.

For a brief moment, complete silence reigned in the apartment, save for the sound of the TV in the background.

Then Asuka's foot slammed into Kensuke's chest as Kitty kicked him, sending the otaku staggering backward. Realizing what was happening, Toji sprang to his feet, but Kitty was too quick. The possessed redhead was out the door and then rushing down the stairs of the apartment building in seconds.

"I knew those idiots wouldn't be able to resist the urge to mess with me," she commented to herself. "I just knew it. Now to see what kind of hell I can raise for that jerk Ikiryo…"

She wasn't going to blab his secret to everyone; the game would be over if she did that. Still, he had to pay for his little stunt with the ofunda, and so long as she was in control of the silly redhead human that the Ikiryo had grown to care about, there were all kinds of ways she could do that.

She was just about to get started when she heard a very familiar sound, namely the revving of a motorcycle, and she stopped short.

It couldn't be, could it?

"Ikiryo! I've come to take back my girl!"

It was!

"Yoshi," she whispered, creeping toward the source of the noise, wanting to see without being seen.

Peering around the side of the apartment building, she gazed into the vacant lot behind it and found herself witnessing a pitched battle. Shinji was flying through the air, trying to avoid the blasts Yoshi was firing from the headlight of his bike.

"Yoshi, listen to me!" the Ikiryo called desperately. "I can't just let her go! There's a problem, she—!"

"I don't care about your problems! I care about my girl!" Yoshi barked.

"Yoshi…" Kitty whispered, smiling.

"Shadow, get this little punk!" Yoshi ordered, and the familiar black shape peeled itself off the biker and crashed into the Ikiryo, slamming the smaller ghost against the wall of a nearby building.

"Listen to me, Ikiryo," Yoshi said dangerously, getting off his bike and getting into the half ghost's face. "I want Kitty back, and don't think I won't take you apart if that's what it takes."

"_Yoshi!_" Kitty cried joyously, emerging from her hiding place and running toward her boyfriend.

He turned to look at her, and the bad luck biker looked at her with confusion. Kitty was momentarily dismayed until she realized why he didn't recognize her, then she quickly released her control over the little redhead.

She was vaguely aware of Yoshi recalling his shadow, and the Ikiryo taking the opportunity to rush over and catch the unconscious Asuka before she could simply collapse to the ground. She barely took in those details, though; she was too focused on getting to Yoshi. She threw her arms wide open, eager to embrace her boyfriend.

Only to have the wonderful reunion rudely interrupted as a beam of green light shot out and struck Yoshi 13. Taken aback, Kitty looked behind herself, and her eyes widened as she saw the Ikiryo holding his damned thermos.

"Ikiryo?! What are you doing?!" Yoshi demanded. "This wasn't part of the plan!"

"Plan?" Kitty repeated softly, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.

"_Noooo!"_ Yoshi screamed, as he was pulled into the thermos, which the Ikiryo quickly slapped the lid onto.

For a moment, Kitty just stood there, too shocked by what had just transpired to react. The Ikiryo took the opportunity to gently sit Asuka down on the ground, leaning her up against the side of the apartment building.

"What plan was he talking about?" Kitty asked eventually, her hand clenching into a fist.

"The one to get you to stop overshadowing Asuka and go back to him," Shinji answered evenly. "I wasn't too hot on the second part, though."

"So it was all an act?" Kitty asked softly.

"Yeah, it was," the white haired boy answered, and he actually had the nerve to look apologetic. "I had to get you to stop overshadowing Asuka somehow, and since I couldn't just force you out, this seemed like the only way."

"You…you…the two of you tricked me, and then you backstab Yoshi?!" Kitty screeched. "Why would you do that?!"

"Because, in spite of what you did to Asuka, I felt sorry for you," Shinji said.

"Oh, bull," Kitty spat. "You were just so ticked off about what I did to your little girlfriend—who's not really your girlfriend, by the way—that you couldn't even let me think I was happy."

"No, that's not true," Shinji said. "I did it because Yoshi's no good for you, even though you want to be with him."

"I don't want to be with Yoshi!" Kitty snapped. "That's the whole reason I possessed the girl!"

"If you had really planned to pretend to be Asuka long term, you wouldn't have dropped so many hints that I figured it out so quickly. You were practically _advertising_ who you really were right from the start. This whole thing was a stunt to get Yoshi's attention," he said. "Kitty, you did a terrible thing to a person who never hurt you in any way just to make that guy jealous. Don't you think that might be a sign that you need to get away from him?"

The green haired ghost girl was silent for a long moment, staring down at her feet.

Then she lifted her head, glaring at the Ikiryo.

"_I_ think that I'm gonna teach you _and_ my Yoshi a lesson about messing with my heart!" she shrieked, and went flying toward him.

Only to have Shinji produce a second thermos and fire the capture beam straight at her. Kitty tried to dodge, but she was just a bit too slow, and seconds later she was being pulled into that damn can.

"That…really could've gone better," Shinji said with a sigh as he capped the second Ikari thermos. Shaking his head, he clipped both of them to his belt and kneeled down, gently picking up the still unconscious Asuka.

"Hey, Shinji!" Toji called as he and Kensuke came running up.

"Hi, guys," the half ghost said. "Good job with letting Kitty escape. The timing was perfect."

"Thanks," the otaku said. "Um, we saw the whole fight. That was…pretty intense. You and Red? You two were…?""

"Yeah, but it was never really her," Shinji said sadly, then turned his gaze down to the Ikari thermos that held Kitty. "She'll be mad at him for a while, but she'll go back to him eventually, and it'll start all over again."

"You can't force people to do the right thing, man," Toji said sagely. "Now, uh, maybe we should get out of here? I'm sure somebody heard all that noise."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed, reverting to his human form. "We should get back."

The three of them quickly made their way back to the apartment, and not a moment too soon, by the looks of it. Asuka was already starting to stir by the time they reached the right floor.

"Hey, what's gonna happen when she wakes up?" Toji asked. "I mean, she gonna remember any of this?"

"I don't know," Shinji confessed. "People who are overshadowed normally don't have any memory of it, but I've never known of anyone being overshadowed for so long."

Kensuke looked nervous. "Uh, guys…if she wakes up with a big hole in her memory and the three of us looming over her, she's probably gonna jump to some pretty nasty conclusions…"

Realizing that he was right, but also that Asuka was on the verge of waking, Shinji quickly deposited her on the couch and then backed away several steps, as though she had just become a live bomb.

A few seconds later, Asuka sat up with a loud groan, shaking her head and looking around dazedly. However, her eyes quickly came back into focus as she spotted the three boys, all of whom were holding their breath as they waited to see how she would respond to the situation.

"What are the other two Stooges doing here?" she demanded.

"Uh…they're my friends, I invited them," Shinji stammered out, caught flat footed.

Despite everything, some part of him hadn't quite expected the "old" Asuka to return, he realized.

She gazed at them with narrowed eyes. "And the three of you weren't thinking of doing anything perverted to me while I was taking a nap?" she demanded.

"Of course not!" Kensuke barked, but he sounded just a little panicky.

Asuka glared at them for a long moment before she stood up. "Hmph," she grumped. "I'm going to my room. You three had better not make too much noise."

With that, she stormed off into the hallway, quickly disappearing from sight. Toji and Kensuke both heaved a sigh of relief, while Shinji sadly watched her go.

"Well, that didn't go as badly as it could've," Kensuke remarked.

"Understatement of the century," Toji said. "So, now that the paranormal threat's been dealt with, you guys wanna hit up the arcade or something?"

"I'm in," Kensuke said.

"Thanks, but I'll take a pass," Shinji said quietly. "I think I just wanna be alone for a little while."

Meanwhile, Asuka was sliding shut the door to her room. Pressing her ear against the screen, she could hear the three boys speaking, though she couldn't make out what was being said. That didn't matter, though. The important thing was that she could tell they hadn't left the living room yet, which meant they weren't by her room.

Heaving a deep sigh, the redhead spoke the words that she wouldn't, _couldn't_ say to the Third Child's face.

"Thank you, Shinji Ikiryo."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** This one didn't come out as smoothly as I expected it to. The pacing at the beginning feels really off. I spent a lot more time than normal editing and tweaking this thing and it still doesn't seem quite right.

Anyway, as you've probably figured out by now, I was lying when I said I'd picked Yoshi 13 and Kitty as the new Ikiryo-gumi's first battle pretty much at random. I was setting up for this. I have to say I was surprised at how few people guessed that Kitty was the one controlling Asuka.

Anyway, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta reader as well.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is the creation of Anno and Gainax. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the creation of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. I don't own it, make no claims to it, and am making no profit from this fan fiction. No infringement of copyright is intended. In other words, please don't sue.

* * *

**Spectra Returns**

"I know you must think I'm nuts," Shinji sighed as he walked down the street one morning. "I mean, I know that I never mentioned this girl to you unless I was complaining about her. Then she plants one on me and suddenly I'm head over heels for her, but…"

**"No, I don't think you're crazy. I don't really get it, probably because I'm not there, but I don't think you're crazy,"** Fumio Kasuga's voice came over the Ikari-phones' ear buds. **"You know, I always thought that Kitty was a little messed up for being so devoted to a jerk like Yoshi 13, but I wouldn't have expected her to pull something like what she did to you and this Soryu girl. That was really low."**

"Yeah," Shinji agreed. "I feel bad for her, though. I hope this is the last straw for her, and she dumps Yoshi."

**"I wouldn't bet on it, but I guess there are always miracles,"** Fumio replied cynically.

"Yeah…" Shinji agreed.

His friend was being really great about the whole Kitty fiasco of a few days ago, much to Shinji's relief. After everything that had happened, the last thing he'd wanted to do was to have to try and justify the way he'd so quickly and easily fallen for the scorned ghost girl's scheme.

Kamiko, who'd he'd already filled in about it because she was the first one he'd managed to get a hold of on the Ikari-phones, had largely refrained from commenting on the entire thing. Shinji wasn't sure if she _did_ think he was crazy (or perhaps very shallow) and was biting her tongue for his sake, or if she simply didn't know what to say.

That she might've been just a _tad_ jealous was something that had honestly never occurred to him.

**"I have to go,"** Fumio said, breaking Shinji out of his thoughts. **"School. Talk to you later."**

"Later," Shinji replied, switching off the 'phones. Removing the buds from his ears, he stuffed the gadget into his school bag just as he arrived at Tokyo-3 Junior High.

The school yard was filled with his fellow students, most of whom were clustered into groups with their friends, chatting and looking cheerful.

_You'd think nobody here even knew there was a war on,_ he thought resentfully as he approached the school building.

Even though the last confrontation between NERV and an Angel had happened far away from Tokyo-3, the population had still been sent to the shelters, anyway. NERV had apparently feared the potential consequences of messing with a sleeping Angel _that_ much.

Of course, the students had been away for their trip to Okinawa at the time, but still…

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he muttered to himself.

If there was one thing that never ceased to amaze Shinji about the people around him who were fortune enough to live mundane lives, it was how quickly they could get back to their regular routines after some big, frightening event.

Ghost attack in Shinjuku-2? No big deal. The town would be running as normal the next day, if not within hours. After all, the little coastal community had only grown more and more blasé about paranormal activity over the years since Shinji had given his uncle's ghost portal device a swift kick.

Tokyo-3 was proving to be much the same with the Angels. The people almost seemed to be forgetting that having giant monsters attacking on a regular basis just wasn't a normal thing.

_Of course, I guess it's easy to get used to things like Angel attacks when all you have to do is hunker down in one of the shelters for a few hours,_ he thought.

Then a small, rueful smile appeared on his face, and he let out a soft chuckle. Who was he kidding? He was still feeling down in the dumps, and he was annoyed at everyone else for having the gall to not be miserable with him.

"Hi, Shinji, what's up?"

Turning, the EVA pilot saw Toji and Kensuke approaching him. He immediately forced a smile onto his face. "Hey, how are you?"

"Okay," Toji replied.

"Anything going on?" Kensuke asked eagerly.

Of course, Shinji knew what he really meant to ask was if there was anything ghostly or Angel-related going on.

"Nah, not really," he answered.

"Oh, too bad," the bespectacled boy said, disappointed. Clearly, he was hoping for some kind of action.

Shinji had to resist the urge to sigh. He was impressed that his new friends had managed to defeat and capture a rampaging Funayurei. He really was, even if he still couldn't puzzle out how two people could have so much trouble with the Box Ghost and then bag a much more powerful specter with seemingly much greater ease. Still, it would've done a lot for his peace of mind if Toji and Kensuke hadn't gotten _quite_ such a great boost in confidence from their victory.

He was still trying to figure out the best way to tell them to be more careful when another person came up behind them.

"Hey, Dumb and Dumber, are you planning on standing in everybody's way all morning?" Asuka asked Toji and Kensuke irritably.

"You could just go around," the jock growled. "There's plenty of room."

Thanks to the crowd of students around them, that wasn't entirely true, which might've been why Toji grudgingly moved a few steps to the side, in spite of his protests. With a small "hmph" Asuka brushed past them.

"Is it just me, or has she not used the phrase 'the three stooges' since the whole thing with Kitty?" Kensuke asked once Asuka was safely out of earshot.

Toji frowned thoughtfully. "She _does_ seem to have retired that insult," he said. Then he smirked. "Now all we have to do is figure out which of is 'Dumb' and who's 'Dumber'."

"Obviously, you're Dumber," Kensuke said to the bigger boy.

"And how do you figure _that_, smartass?" Toji demanded.

"You're a big dumb jock," the otaku replied smoothly. "It's practically in your job description."

Toji snorted. "Big _dumb_ jock, not big _dumber_ jock," he said, before turning his attention to Shinji. "She does seem to have quit insulting you."

"I guess," Shinji said. He hadn't really noticed any big change in her usual behavior since he'd liberated her from Kitty's control, but he hadn't picked up on Asuka's abandonment of the three stooges jab, either.

"You don't think that maybe she actually remembers what happened, do you?" Kensuke asked, sounding just a bit nervous.

Shinji shook his head. "Doubt it. If she did, she'd probably be mad at me for falling for it for so long."

"Then why's she being nice to you?" Toji asked. "Or at least, nice by her standards?"

"Well, I did save her life at Mount Asuma, right before Kitty overshadowed her," Shinji said. "She might be grateful about that."

Toji and Kensuke traded a dubious look.

"Uh, are there any other reasons besides that and her remembering what happened while Kitty was using her as a meat puppet?" Toji asked.

Shinji rolled his eyes at their complete inability to believe that Asuka might actually express a little gratitude in some way, but he reluctantly answered anyway. "It could be the aftereffects from being overshadowed."

"How the heck does _that_ work?" Toji asked.

"A lot like a post-hypnotic suggestion, actually," Shinji answered.

The jock threw his hands up into the air. "Oh, why didn't you say so, man? That explains it _completely_!" he exclaimed sarcastically.

Shinji smirked. "Okay, basically what happens is that if I, or some other ghost, overshadows someone and makes them do something or say they're gonna do something, then a lot of the time they feel a compulsion to keep doing it even after the ghost leaves," he explained. "Say if I overshadowed you, then made you say 'I'm going to go study.' Afterwards, you might feel an urge to go to the library."

"Fat chance," Kensuke snickered.

Shinji ignored him. "Of course, the effect isn't strong enough to make a person do something they _really_ wouldn't want to, and it usually only lasts for a few seconds, anyway," he said. "But Asuka was overshadowed for longer than anyone ever was before, at least so far as I know. So I wouldn't be surprised if the effect was lasting longer."

"So it could wear off at any time?" Kensuke asked. "In that case, you should enjoy it while she's tolerable."

"Yeah," Shinji said softly as he watched her enter the cluster of other girls outside the school building, remaining easy to pick out because of her red hair. "Tolerable."

* * *

"Well, Bertrand, I must say, I'm looking as stunning as I was before my latest skirmish with the Ikiryo, if not even better," Spectra remarked, admiring her reflection in a small hand mirror.

"Yes, Miss Spectra," agreed Bertrand, who was in his refined older gentleman guise at the moment.

The pair was currently located in Spectra's pathetic temporary hideout beneath the highway overpass, and the ghost lady was only too happy that she would soon be leaving it forever.

It almost pleased her as much as thinking about the pain she was shortly going to be inflicting.

"Is everything ready, Bertrand?" Spectra asked.

"I've made the necessary preparations, as you instructed, Miss Spectra," Bertrand answered primly, sounding almost—but not quite—offended that she had even felt the need to ask.

"And our new associates?" Spectra asked.

"I have given them their instructions," her assistant reassured her. "I am quite certain that they all understand what they're supposed to do and will carry out their orders correctly. They're simple creatures, but they have a simple job."

"True," Spectra conceded with a small smirk. "Just remember that they, and you for that matter, have to keep their distance from the Ikiryo until everything's ready. Otherwise we'll set off that loathsome ghost sense of his, and that could ruin everything."

"I will make sure that I do not approach him," Bertrand vowed. "And the others have no real need to."

"Very well, then," Spectra said, rubbing her hands together eagerly. "Let's go hurt some people, Bertrand."

* * *

It was turning into one of the dullest days Shinji could imagine in a while, he decided. Their teacher was in rare form that morning, going on about Second Impact and the chaos that had followed it at much greater length and in _far_ greater detail than he normally did.

_God, could he be any more long winded?_ Shinji thought miserably.

He knew that it was an important period in history, and that a lot of people he suffered terribly, but somehow the teacher just turned it into the cure for insomnia.

Which, of course, was the last thing he needed at the moment. Shinji wanted to be kept busy, not given plenty of time to mope about recent events. It was almost enough to make him wish for an Angel or a ghost to show up.

Almost. His life was crazy enough as it was without tempting fate just because he had too much time to think on his hands.

Nevertheless, the school's PA system crackled to life anyway.

"Attention, students, this is a surprise evacuation drill," the principal announced, immediately evicting groans from most of class 2-A. "Please proceed to the school shelters in an orderly fashion as though this was an actual emergency situation."

"All right, you heard him," Hikari sternly addressed the rest of the class. "Everybody get moving, and no messing around. Remember, we're supposed to act like this is the real thing."

"Why's everybody so down about this?" Shinji asked Toji as he got up. "Shouldn't everybody be glad to get out of class?"

"At least we know what time class ends," Toji sighed. "This evac drills can last for hours after school's supposed to be over."

"I don't see the point of them now, anyway," Kensuke added, just as glum. "I mean, these days we do the real thing every couple of weeks anyway."

Nodding, Shinji went over to Asuka and Rei. "So, what do we do?" he asked them, uncertain. "Are we supposed to go to the shelters, too, or—?"

"Don't be stupid. Evacuation training isn't for EVA pilots," she cut him off, then turned to their teacher. "Ikari, Ayanami and I are going to NERV headquarters, since it's what we'd have to do in a real emergency!"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, fine," the wizened old teacher agreed.

Guiltily relieved to escape the school day early, even if there was a chance that he was just heading straight into a sync test, Shinji quickly said goodbye to Toji and Kensuke and followed his fellow pilots out of the building.

As they were leaving, Shinji noticed that children from the nearby elementary school were likewise filing into the shelter that they shared with Tokyo-3 Junior High.

"So, what do you guys say?" Asuka asked as they walked off, twining her fingers together and placing her hands behind her head. "Want to find somewhere to get lunch? I'm sick of eating the same thing everyday."

"That would be unwise," Rei replied. "NERV will be aware of the surprise drill and will expect us to check in promptly."

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Could you possibly be any more obedient and boring, First Child?" she demanded.

Shinji frowned, not liking it when his half-sister was picked on. However, Rei didn't rise to Asuka's bait, and the Second Child didn't press further after that. So he just shook his head and kept going.

* * *

"All right, have all the classes finished with roll call?" the principal of Tokyo-3 Junior High asked, his counterpart from the elementary school standing next to him. "Is everyone present and accounted for?"

One by one, the teachers reported that, yes, every child was there, save for those who hadn't come to school that day, and the Evangelion pilots, of course.

"Excellent. Then we can begin."

The cryptic statement just hung in the air for several seconds, as the assembled students, who were expecting nothing more than a long, boring wait, traded confused looks, all wondering the same thing.

Begin what?

Before anyone could pose the question, both the schools' principals abruptly collapsed like marionettes whose strings had been cut, evicting gasps from several of the students and teachers present.

However, the two men's synchronized fall wasn't half as shocking as what came next. Two misty forms rose from the administrators' prone bodies, quickly solidifying into a pale skinned, dark-haired woman with orbs of flame orbiting her like tiny moons and squat, distinguished older man.

"You," Toji hissed, immediately recognizing the ghost that was responsible for his little sister's injuries.

Off near the corner of the room, Nozomi Horaki clutched onto Hikari, the normally rambunctious little girl terrified by the reappearance of Spectra.

"Hello, children!" Spectra greeted the students, flashing them a toothy grin that promised pain and suffering. "Welcome to the unscheduled evacuation drill. Today's lesson is about how the places you think are the safest can actually be the ones where you die."

That was enough to break some of the students' shock. Several of the older children sprang to their feet and went sprinting toward the exit. Spectra and Bertrand just watched as they ran in a panicked frenzy, the ones at the rear of the pack more than willing to trample the students at front if that was what it took to escape.

"What the hell?!" one of the boys exclaimed as he tried to work the mechanism to open the armored door, only to have it remain stuck tight. "It won't open!"

"Aw, it looks like you're all trapped here with me," Spectra mocked them.

"That is enough!" one the elementary school teachers shouted, stomping over toward Spectra and Bertrand. "Do what you want with us, but let our students go!"

"Ah, the noble teacher. How dull," Spectra said. "Bertrand, be a dear and put all the adults someplace out of the way, would you?"

"Of course, Miss Spectra."

The teacher who'd confronted Spectra looked incredulously at Bertrand. Even though there was clearly something paranormal about the pair, it was difficult to be frightened of the much smaller man.

Or at least it, until Bertrand changed, assuming the hulking form he'd used back at the hospital, when Toji had first encountered him.

"Dude," the jock whispered, leaning toward Kensuke as Bertrand began rounding up the teachers, effortlessly picking them all up at once, "we have to do something."

"Yeah, but how?" the otaku whispered back. "I didn't bring any ghost fighting stuff down here. Didn't think we'd need it."

As Toji tried to figure out the answer to that question, Spectra turned back to the students that hadn't made a futile attempt to escape. "I sent my associate here," she gestured to Bertrand, "on a little errand to Okinawa recently…"

"The Funayurei!" Kensuke hissed in Toji's ear. "He got it to attack!"

"…and he brought some new friends back," Spectra finished.

More spectral beings appeared, walking right through the thick concrete walls of the shelter to make their appearance, but they weren't much like Spectra and Bertrand. Unlike the entirely human-form ghosts, these things all seemed like they were part animal. Frogs, turtles, fish, crabs, and even squid; they all looked like fusions of humans and creatures that dwelled in the water.

"Kappa," Kensuke whispered.

"What?" Toji asked.

The freckled boy frowned, a little surprised that his friend wasn't familiar with them. "Water spirits," he answered.

"Let 'er rip, boys!" Spectra ordered them excitedly.

Instantly, murky green water started to gush forth from the Kappas' bodies, splashing onto the floor of the shelter and showing no sign of stopping. Several of the children screamed and jumped to their feet, backing away from the cascade. It was a reaction more appropriate for acid than water, but given Spectra's terrifying appearance, they could be forgiven for being jumpy.

In seconds, the entire floor was damp. It was obvious that it wouldn't take much time for the water spirits to completely flood the interior of the shelter and drown everyone trapped inside.

"Why are you doing this?" a boy from class 2-A named Hiro cried, his voice a full octave higher than normal.

Spectra gave him a malicious grin. "Because I want all of you miserable brats to suffer and die," she said softly. "Now, if you excuse me, I have some other matters to attend to while you wait for the end."

* * *

With that, she quickly dove into the floor like it was no more substantial than smoke and disappeared. Leaving the student bodies of two schools and their teachers alone with a roomful of water spirits intent on turning the shelter into one big aquarium.

"I still say that we should just take our sweet time reporting in," Asuka said as the three pilots walked through the hallways of NERV headquarters. "You know that Misato's going to make us do some boring test or another."

"And what happens when she asks us why it took us so long to show up?" Shinji argued. "Besides, I thought you'd enjoy the chance to come in first in a sync test." He added dryly.

Asuka chuckled. "I can live with beating you only two or three times a week, thank you."

Still, she gave up trying to convince the other two pilots to play hooky from whatever NERV would have them do for the rest of the day. It wasn't long before they reached the door to the Operations Director's office.

"Hello, Misato."

Looking up from the cluttered desk in the middle of the modest room, Misato started and seeing the trio of EVA pilots.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, more confused than anything else. "Shouldn't the three of you be in school?"

Shinji blinked. "There was a surprise evacuation drill today," he explained. "They didn't tell you about it?"

"Oh, of course they did," Asuka scoffed before Misato could answer. "It's just that the wunder officer here completely forgot about it."

Misato scowled. "I was _not_ told about it," she said, turning to her computer. After a few clicks of her mouse, her frown deepened. "There are no surprise evac drills for the schools scheduled today."

A sinking feeling started to form in the pit of Shinji's stomach. "If that's the case, then what—?"

He was cut off as an alarm started to sound, but it was not the deafening blare of klaxons that he was all too familiar with by now.

"That's not an Angel alert, is it?" Shinji groaned.

Belatedly, he realized that was actually _hoping_ for an Angel, and despite the most likely alternative, he still found himself questioning his sanity.

"No," Misato answered grimly, getting up from her desk.

Without another word, the Ops Director brushed past the pilots, heading for the base's command center. Shinji and Asuka exchanged a look, then took off after her, and Rei quickly followed them. Misato moved with long, quick strides, and the pilots, who all had significantly shorter legs than the grown woman, had to jog to keep up.

"Status report!" Misato barked the second she entered the heart of NERV headquarters.

Despite her abrupt appearance, none of the technicians at their terminals jumped, apparently used to the Captain doing this kind of thing.

"There's a hostage situation unfolding in the city," Aoba answered grimly. "A bad one."

"Details," Misato said.

Shinji had a bad feeling that he could already guess most of them.

"Someone managed to lead the students from the local junior high school and elementary school into the shelters, claiming a surprise drill," Aoba said. "The shelter's sealed now, and none of NERV's overrides on the locks are working."

"Hikari's in there," Shinji heard Asuka say quietly to herself.

_So are Toji and Kensuke,_ he thought. _Damn it, I hate when I'm right about these kinds of things._

"And it gets worse," Aoba added. "Most of the cameras in the shelter have been disabled, but we managed to pull up the feed from one, in a storage room. It looks like the place is flooding."

Misato gave the long-haired man an incredulous look. "Flooding?" she asked. "Where the hell is the water coming from?"

"Some of the pipes in the shelter's plumbing must've broken somehow," Aoba said. "It's the only possible explanation."

"How long until the whole thing is full?" Misato asked.

"It's impossible to say exactly. We're not sure how quickly water's pouring into the shelter," Maya answered. "The MAGI estimate between one and two hours, however."

"How long would it take us to breach the shelter?"

"The only ways we have available of getting into a sealed shelter within that period of time would probably kill at least some of the students trapped inside," Aoba said.

"And whatever nut is in charge of this is probably ready to kill the hostages at a moment's notice," Misato muttered to herself. "So that rules out using the Evangelions to open up the shelter in a hurry…"

The people in the command center who were close enough to hear her turned to stare at the Operations Director with wide eyes.

Shinji honestly didn't know why, considering that this was the same woman who came up with the "Let's shoot it with all the energy in Japan!" plan.

"So, what demands have they made?" Misato asked.

"Um, none," Maya answered. "We haven't been contacted by the people behind this yet. Neither has the city government."

Misato frowned. "That's strange. They must be waiting for someone to contact them," she said. "Call the shelter and see if anyone picks up. And somebody get the department of water and power on the phone and see if they can cut off the flow to the shelter. But if they can, tell them not to actually do it unless I say so."

"The landline connecting to the shelter still seems to be intact," Makoto reported a moment later, holding the receiver to his ear. "It's ringing."

"Put it on the speakers," Misato ordered.

Makoto complied just in time for everyone in the command center to hear the last ring before someone picked up.

**"Hello?"**

Shinji's eyes slid shut; he knew that voice.

_Damn,_ he thought. The whole scheme of trapping a bunch of school children in one of the shelters and then flooding it just screamed Spectra, but he'd still hoped that it wasn't actually her.

"This is Captain Misato Katsuragi of NERV," the Ops Director introduced herself to the spook in a stern tone. "Am I speaking to the person who's taken everyone in that shelter hostage?"

**"Yes, that's correct, Captain Misato Katsuragi,"** Spectra replied in a mocking tone, obviously amused by the conversation.

"What are you demanding for the safe return of your hostages?" Misato asked, not showing any irritation.

**"Hmm, now that **_**is**_** an interesting question…"** Spectra said thoughtfully, as though she'd never pondered the issue before.

Several of the techs on the command center traded confused glances, no doubt wondering who would go to all the trouble to take two schools' worth of children hostage without figuring out what she wanted first.

Of course, Shinji didn't have to wonder. He knew that Spectra didn't have a ready-made list of demands because the death of everyone in that shelter was what she was after.

**"There's someone I'd like to meet down here,"** Spectra said. **"If he comes here, then maybe I'll think about letting all the little brats go."**

Misato frowned. "How are we supposed to send anyone to you?" she asked. "You sealed the shelter tighter than a drum."

**"Oh, I'm sure he'll find a way,"** Spectra replied knowingly.

Shinji didn't need to hear any more. It was obviously a trap, but with the bait Spectra had, she didn't exactly need to be crafty about it. He had no choice but to go. After looking around for a moment to make sure that no one was looking at him right then, quietly slipped out of the command center, in search of a place where he could go ghost unobserved.

* * *

"You don't seriously think I'll be able to fulfill your demands, do you?" Misato asked, her stern but professional facade cracking slightly to reveal the frustration boiling beneath. She had been speaking with the creep who'd taken a bunch of school kids hostage for less than ten minutes, but she already felt like she needed to shoot something. "You want me to find someone you won't name and bring him down the shelter, which you won't open. Are you insane?"

**"No, I'm just playing a game you couldn't begin to understand."**

"You know that you'll die, too, don't you?" Misato asked. "When the shelter is completely filled with water, you'll drown with all your hostages."

**"Don't be so sure of that."**

Without another word, the nutcase on the other end of the line hung up, and the sound of dial tone filled the command center until Makoto could get it off the speakers.

Misato pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can the city shut off the water to the shelter?" she asked.

"Yes," Maya answered. "But they told me that there's no indication that hundreds of gallons of water are being lost from the system." She added, confused.

"Tell them to do it anyway," she ordered curtly, even though she had a sinking feeling that it wouldn't help anything.

"Yes, ma'am." Maya replied.

Resisting the urge to sigh, Misato turned. She intended to start pacing but came to an abrupt stop as she saw who had been behind her.

Or, more accurately, who hadn't been behind her.

"What happened to Shinji?" she asked the remaining two pilots.

"Him? He ran off a couple of minutes ago," Asuka answered.

"Why?" Misato asked.

"You know how sensitive the Third is," the redhead replied flippantly. "He probably found this whole situation too upsetting to deal with."

Misato frowned. "Rei, go and find him, would you?"

"Oh, why bother?" Asuka asked, putting a hand on the First Child's shoulder to stop her. "You just said you weren't going to use an EVA to breach the shelter, and even if you change your mind, wonder girl or I would be perfectly capable of doing it. So why not let him have his panic attack or whatever in peace?"

"Fine," Misato said, reluctantly admitting to herself that she had no time right now to try and sooth her upset charge. She had to figure out how to keep this crisis from turning into a disaster. "You two don't have to stick around here, but stay in the building and be ready to come if I call for you."

"Right," Asuka said, while Rei nodded.

The two pilots left, and Misato quickly turned her mind toward the task of figuring out what to do about this unexpected mess.

Had she kept her focus on Asuka and Rei for just a moment longer, she might've noticed the redhead mouthing the words "Good luck" as she walked out.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** I had hoped to get a bit further into the plot than this, but things have been more than a tad nuts at my job recently, so it seemed best to stop here.

I took a bit of liberty with the Kappa. They tend to be river spirits, so Bertrand probably shouldn't have had much luck finding them in the ocean around Okinawa. Also, the whole bit with them generating huge amounts of water doesn't really track with the myths. However, if I wanted to be entirely accurate to Japanese mythology, I wouldn't have put in Danny Phantom ghosts to begin with.

Anyway, thanks as always to my readers and reviewers, and thanks to my beta reader as well.


End file.
